Plumas Park Pick-Up Patrol
We are continuing our efforts to build a stronger community in 2015 through our Adopt-a-Park initiative. We are the official adopters of Plumas Park and we invite all users of Plumas Park to join us in keeping the park clean and safe for everyone.
This is about more than maintaining a park, it is about maintaining and building the relationships that make a neighborhood healthy, safe, and inclusive. So come on you dog lovers, soccer moms, and church goers; won't you be my neighbors? The Back Story
Because of the location of our Reno sanctuary, we got to meet many dog owners in the Old South West neighborhood who like to use Plumas Park to exercise their canine companions. Although not a designated dog park, every evening after work, the park is booming with energy as neighbors mingle while their dogs... well you know.
There are often conflicts at public facilities like Plumas Park where heavy traffic combines with mixed use to create conflict amongst patrons. Some park users began complaining about dog feces, and out of control pets, so Washoe County Animal Control stepped up enforcement and even issued a few tickets for dogs off-leash. While we certainly understand and support common sense leash laws, and scorn those who refuse to clean-up after their pets, we also empathize with the desire to let our furry friends run free in neighborhood parks. The allowable uses for a public facility should be user-generated; it is our task as park users to learn to work together so the park is accessible, clean, and enjoyable for all. In many areas throughout the country, most notably Portland and SF, city officials have found a way to accomadate all and exclude non in parks that are very similar in design to Plumas. We wanted to do something to be part of a positive change in our neighborhood. In 2012 we organized three park clean-up days that were well attend by neighbors with the help of Kim from Hand-to-Paws Dog Grooming Salon. We hope to encourage everyone to be better stewards of the park, whether that means picking up after pets, picnics, or parochial school children and build a stronger sense of community amongst park users. As long as we have neighbors we will have conflict. We hope these park clean-up days will help to build a foundation on which neighbors can learn to solve more complex or controversial issues that are certain to come up. |
Want to Learn More?
You can learn more about senior dogs, and sanctuary residents on our blog.
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