The children’s playground in Freedom Park has a very explicit sign, no dogs allowed.
Some pet owners release their dogs in the parking lot and let their pets proceed, off leash, through the children’s playground and the disc golf course to the dog park. When leaving the dog park, the reverse is true. The dogs proceed, off leash, through the disc golf course and through the children’s playground and into the parking lot. Other pet owners leash their dogs in the parking lot and proceed to walk their dogs through the children’s playground. Some release their dogs at the disk golf course.
It is not unusual for some pet owners to run their dogs (off leash) in all sports fields surrounding the dog park. Beware, most of these dogs are large and some can be aggressive. This is one reason that a pet owner may not want to take their pet to the dog park.
Some pet owners do not pick up their dog’s poop. Other pet owners place their dog’s poop in a plastic bag and throw it into the woods along the sports fields. Big dogs that are run in the sports fields leave big poops. Big dog poop will remain on the sports fields for approximately 2 months.
Some of these problems can be eliminated or minimized by requiring pet owners to enter the dog park via Gill Road. The access point to the dog park at Gill Road is not near the children’s playground, disk golf course and most sports fields. In addition, the parking lot at Gill Road is much closer to the dog park than the parking lot at the children’s playground.
In order to encourage people to get outside and exercise, Medford Township should be promoting the use of the children’s playground and the disk golf course. However, it must solve the dog problems first. Pet owners that keep their dog on leash, outside the dog park, will still have access to the entire park, except for the children’s playground.
People must feel safe before they will use Freedom Park.
Ray Carden
