Fidose of Reality is proud to announce a new feature here on the magazine-style dog blog: Reader Question of the Week. It’s easy, fun, you get to know other Fidose of Reality fans, and each month one lucky respondent will receive a Fidose of Reality prize pack! Dog parks on tap today…
Simply answer the Fidose of Reality Question of the Week. Everyone who replies here on the blog for the selected time period is eligible to win a Fidose of Reality prize pack.
At the end of November, 2012, Fidose of Reality staff will gather all respondents to questions for the selected time period and randomly draw one winner who will receive the Fidose of Reality prize pack. Easy, right?
Questions will go live every Monday and a new question will be posted the following Monday. Here we go with the inaugural question
Fidose asks: “Do you think dog parks should charge a fee to use them?” Yes or no? Weigh in below.
Only replies to the blog post below will be eligible for the prize pack.
This month’s prize pack is: A Fidose of Reality luggage tag and two books for dog lovers, just in time for holiday reading or holiday gift giving.
Celebrity Catwalk says
Good question….at a time when Federal Funding to parks, museums, after school programs etc…are at an all time LOW….dog park fees are not an outrageous assertion. If the fees went to the direct upgrade/upkeep of the park…..
Linda says
Absolutely IMHO. Residents pay $30 a year for the Cape May County Dog Park. There is no grass, it’s all sand. It’s a beautiful large park, beautifully maintained and they add something new to the park each year. This past season it was a swimming pool for the pups. Other seasons new agility equipment was added. Vacationers can use the park as well and they can pay a $10 weekly fee. It all seems to work quite well.
Carol Bryant says
I love Cape May – hope you are all doing well post hurricane.
Crystal says
Depends on the type of park. If it is a city park that happens to allow dogs off leash? No, they shouldn’t charge a fee unless a fee is charged to everyone who uses the park.
I think independently run dog parks could reasonably charge a fee, as long as it was small and simply covers expenses like clearing trails, dumping wood chips over muddy areas, and providing poop bags/garbage pick up at entrances.
AdoptedMomToChazzTheDog says
Even though I do not regularly take my dog to the “dog park” I would like to weigh in on this. I think there could be a small fee levied for use of the dog park. Maintenance, upkeep of these locations is sometimes sadly lacking, and these monies could fund that. Certain dog owners do not take the responsibility on themselves when they visit these parks and having a price to pay might encourage better dog owner etiquette. I’m just sayin!
Candice says
I think that city/public dog parks should not charge, but private, independent parks are a different story. Many times the parks are used by people other than just dog owners and it would be unfair not to charge them also. I think if I had the choice to go to a public dog park or an independent one that charged a fee I would still go to the free one.
Tiffany says
Though it’s true that some dog parks are used by non-dog owners, I don’t think it’s fair to charge them a dog park fee. Ultimately, a fee would be to help maintain and keep a nice park (for our dogs) – and as responsible dog owners, we need to take responsibility and acknowledge the pure fact that, in general, a group of dogs is going create more wear and tear than a group of children. Regardless, fees would go towards satisfying our personal dog-owning needs, thus it may be even irrelevant to consider who should or shouldn’t be charged. Bottom line: beautiful dog parks require maintenance and upkeep deduced from effort, time and money so if a dog park is lacking in one of those areas – furparents must step up to the plate and take action.
Carol Bryant says
Interesting perspective, Tiffany! I like the idea of fees to maintain, too.
April says
I would pay fees for a well-maintained private park with special features I couldn’t find elsewhere. Especially for a park with a separate small dog area.
Shadow says
Living in Australia (Tasmania), we are not charged any fees for our dogs to use the “dog areas” The quality of these sites is often bare, but suitable for our dogs to be able to exercise and socialise. We are also fortunate as a lot of beaches allow dogs off their leads fso they can run, swim and generally have a great time.
They have only recently started to enforce the “keep your dogs under control” legislation, so we are all just getting used to taking our dogs everywhere in their lead (good thing I think).
The local councils are the ones who supply the exercise areas and if they started to charge a fee, rate payers would be up in arms.