Editor:
For Ladner dog owners the addition of an off-leash dog park at Paterson Park has been greatly appreciated. However, it presents a safety issue for small dog owners.
In fact, many owners with small dogs are declining to use the facility because they are afraid of having their smaller dogs run over and injured by the larger dogs as they race around the enclosure.
In talking to other small dog owners, we all share the same situation, our dogs are avoiding the Paterson Park dog area when there are many larger dogs inside. Many of our dogs refuse to go inside when they see the larger one’s rough housing with each other, yet small dogs deserve a safe place to play.
The safety issue can be solved if the City of Delta provides a fenced off area of the facility just for small dogs. Ladner and Tsawwassen have virtually the same population yet Tsawwassen was recently awarded a fenced in all dogs and small dog park at Pebble Hill. Ladner has two official off-leash parks, none for small dogs, Tsawwassen has four with the one small dog park and North Delta has seven off-leash with one small dog area.
Discussion with Parks and Recreation for a small dog section at Paterson Park have ended with the acknowledgement that it is not included in a budget and needs more public input.
I encourage all small dog owners to take action and provide the City of Delta with the public input they need.
Peggy Richardson
