Editor:
Re: Off-leash plans to ‘take away from dogs,’ May 15.
I’d like to thank Peace Arch News and Surrey Parks, Recreation & Culture department for its openness to feedback from the community.
The issue, in my opinion, is not about dog owners versus non dog owners.
It is about fast versus slow.
The fast:
1.) Cyclists are interested in a fast shortcut through the park; and
2.) Elgin Park Secondary wants a running area for a physical-education exercise option.
The slow:
1.) The pace of Dogwood Park is slow; the number of iPods and, ear buds I see? None, and I go to the dog park twice a day all year and am flabbergasted every day by families with kids/teenagers and no earbuds, no phones and no iPods.
2.) In the parking lot, there are on average 15-40 cars – five to 10 in the main area; the rest, all ages, sizes and shapes, are on the trails, going slow.
Does fast always have to trump slow?
The city will predictably say yes, but it is about safety. And yes, I have seen one close call in 10 years. It was when a fast cyclist was annoyed at having to navigate past a family and their dog.
The kids tend to get in the way of the cyclists as much as the dogs. For the most part, everyone does his or her best.
I would like to suggest that Surrey Parks and Rec take a walk with a friend with a dog in Dogwood Park, no earbuds.
I would also like to suggest they use our family solution to issues – find a compromise that makes everyone a little unhappy.
Megan Makepeace, White Rock
• • •
Four hundred and seventy nine signatures were collected during the past week from people using Dogwood Park, objecting to the placement of a fence limiting park space for dog walkers.
It is the opinion of the current park users that there are very few places to walk dogs off-leash.
Bike riders are free to ride with freedom on the roads and assigned trails. Surely the few bike riders that now use the park can co-exist with the dog walkers.
Robert A. Herbert, Surrey
• • •
An open letter to the City of Surrey.
This is to voice my opposition to the planned fencing off at Dogwood Park.
I have taken my dogs to this park for many years, even when it was still used by horses. In all those years, there has never been a confrontation between horses, runners and dogs. Why is it that now, when there are so many other parks available to runner/cyclists, it seems necessary to fence off part of the park?
This park is a lovely bit of ‘wilderness’ in an ever-changing cityscape. Fencing will not only impair dogs and their owners, it will be an eyesore.
Could it be that some ‘high profile’ friend of city hall put in the complaint? I thought only in White Rock could something like this take place.
The park is frequented by dog owners, not only from Surrey, but farther away, simply because of its beauty.
So, please reconsider. Leave this beautiful area as it is.
Besides, ‘Friends of Dogwood Park’ have put in many hours over the years, cleaning ‘their’ park with no cost to the city.
Please wake up, whoever is in charge, and comply to the wishes of your people.
Gerda Barwieck, Surrey