Dogs Off-leash in Greater Sudbury - D.O.G.S. Committee

History

The Issue

In the past several years many residents throughout the City of Greater Sudbury including City Councils themselves have expressed their interest and support for the creation of off-leash dog parks.

January 2012
The City began in late November/early December to bring onto the site, clean fill from a local construction site. The fill is needed to build the lane way that will be from Scarlett Street to the parking area, approx. 100 meters. Also, the fill is necessary for the parking area, which will accommodate approx. 25 vehicles. The City has layed out the fill accordingly. The remaining work of levelling the property, removing construction debris, installing fencing and signage will be done in late spring or early summer depending on the amount of water on the site. They require the site to be dry so that the heavy construction equipment needed for the work doesn't sink into the wet ground.

January 2011
City Staff presented their report outlining the potential costs for creating a new dog park in Minnow Lake area. The total one-time costs for the creation of the dog park are estimated at $116,679 and $6,700 for the regular yearly maintenance costs.

June 2010
The DOGS Committee presented its findings and request for the creation of Sudbury’s First Off-Leash Dog Park to be situated on the abandoned parcel of land on the corner of Donna Drive and Second Avenue – North in Minnow Lake.

May 2010
The Minnow Lake CAN, Dogs Off-Leash in Greater Sudbury (DOGS) Committee conducted an online and paper survey of approx. 7000 households in Minnow Lake – Ward 11 and “79.5% of survey respondents strongly agreed that the City of Greater Sudbury needs dog parks.”

March 2010
A local community radio station organized a morning poll about the creation of a dog park in the City of Greater Sudbury. It received 908 calls with 71% in support of the creation of a dog park.

January 2010
The Minnow Lake Community Action Network (CAN) invited interested residents to create a sub-committee to study the need and support of the community for such a project. The initial proposed location for the off-leash dog park was the parcel of property at the corner of Donna Drive and Second Avenue – North.

2009
Of the 27,011 dogs in the City of Greater Sudbury, only 5,888 (21.8%) are licensed and in compliance with the City’s By-law. The sale of dog tags (i.e. license) represented $88,320 for the city coffers in 2009.

June 2007
A Facebook petition is created to help with the establishment of a dog park in Greater Sudbury and received over 138 respondents in favour of the creation of a dog park.

March 2007
The earliest demonstration of this support at City Council is evidenced by the Seventh Meeting of the Finance Committee of the City of Greater Sudbury where City Council members were considering providing funding of $100,000 for the creation of a dog park.

2004
The City of Greater Sudbury identified in their Parks, Open Space & Leisure Master Plan of the City of Greater Sudbury that “[…] In addition, park sites suitable for “off leash” or “leash free” dog play are needed within the urban areas of the City.” Furthermore “The establishment of at least one such park as a test case should be undertaken”.

2002
According to Statistics Canada there are approximately 27,011 dogs in the City of Greater Sudbury and of those, approximately 3,765 dogs in Minnow Lake.

Breakdown of Expenses:

Fencing: $54,424
Entrance, Road Way, Parking Area, Excavation, Crusher Dust, Debris Removal, Ground Clearing, Culverts for Drainage. (* Effort will be made to preserve various trees on-site): $57,255
Park Maintenance (May 1st to October 31st yearly), Inspect Grounds, Cleaning of Grounds, Changing of Garbage Cans and Dog Waste Dispensers (weekly): $6,700
Signage: $5,000
Total Costs: $123,379