Dog owners fight city over park fence

Pet owners who walk their dogs in a northwest Calgary park are demanding that the city replace a fence around the green space.

After receiving complaints that the Cambrian Heights off-leash park was overused and creating too much traffic, the city removed the fence earlier this month hoping it would reduce the area's popularity.

The Cambrian Heights Dog Park Preservation Committee went to City Hall Tuesday with a petition calling for the fence to be re-installed. The commitee said it's collected 1,000 signatures of support in the last 10 days

"We've galvanized users of off-leash parks around Calgary," said Blair Cosgrove of the committee on Tuesday. "We think we've got a real beginning to having a presence and having a seat at the table in all future discussions that any department of the city would have about what's being done with public amenities."

The dog owners say not having a fence is a risk to their animals, but the city points out dogs should be controlled by their owners at all times.

Ward 4 Ald. Bob Hawkesworth said the issue shows the city needs more fenced dog parks.

Judy Williamson, who lives just outside Cambrian Heights but walks her two dogs at the park, agreed that the city needs to "recognize that they need to make more fenced and gated parks."

"Part of the concern with this one is it got very popular, very quickly so it was getting overused," she said.