As the result of a community meeting chaired by Councillor Stintz early in the summer, a working group of 3 dog owners and 3 non dog owners is attempting to work through issues and concerns regarding the current By-Laws concerning dogs on/off leash in Eglinton Park.

The dog owners would like to be able to have their dogs off leash whereas the non dog owners are concerned that there is little compliance currently with the existing Leash By-Law as dogs appear to be off leash at all hours. Concerns that have been raised include safety for other park users, concern over dogs near the children’s playground and the belief that dogs off-leash could conflict with other park activities.

One idea raised by the dog owners is to implement limited hours for off-leash runs however it has been pointed out that effective clean up becomes a problem in non daylight hours. The committee is striving to consider the entire needs of the community and that includes both dog owners and non-dog owners alike.

Councillor Stintz has included this issue in her website www.karenstintz.com/dogs. People are invited to provide their thoughts on the issue of dogs in Eglinton Park. The councillor is interested in hearing from the community on this question. All comments will be summarized and posted on the website under Community Issues.