Dog lovers must unite- we need a place for our dogs to run loose & play- Lynn Woods is great! and if we can get the city council to make it DOGS ONLY on one side or the other at The Gannon enterance (off Lynnfield St.) everyone in the world will be happy!! Let's do it. The other place I would love to see as DOGS ONLY is the short the beach between Red Rock & the very beginning of Nahant Beach> There is only one enterance to the beach there. Another great place for dogs.

Zzukeepr, welcome to the forum!!

I don't own a dog, but I grew up with them, like them and agree that we need a dog park of some sorts. There's a high concentration of dog owners in my neighborhood who would love to see one.

In a town that I worked in, I saw a neighborhood and residents torn apart over whether a makeshift dog park maintained by volunteers near some residences should be made an official one or moved elsewhere. The fight was more intense than the ones over what school programs should be cut or even redistricting! What I took from that is one needs a way to make sure dog owners are responsible, area residents are on-board, and rules are enforced. Who is going to maintain and clean the park? What is going to happen when the inevitable fight between pit bull owners and dog owners afraid of pit bulls breaks out? (And what about the irresponsible pit bull owners? I know it's the owners and not the breed that are usually the problem.)

My hometown in NJ had a huge park/tract of land where dogs could roam free because children's book author Albert Payson Terhune (I think I spelled that right) left the land to the town with that stipulation and I don't seem to remember any issues with it. So, I guess they can be successful. I've seen fenced in areas in NYC parks where dogs can roam off leash, too.

ps - I used to have a pet owners section on here but it wasn't used, so I merged it with the "General Forum." This section is supposed to be for talk about the web site, itself. I'm going to "move" this topic to the General Forum but leave a copy of it here that points to it.

Hi,

I'm a dog owner and a place where we could go, off leash, in Lynn would be great. I don't think the beach idea wouldn't go over too well. We already can use it Oct. 1-May 1. Same goes for the Lynn woods. Many people use it for different things, running, dog walking, biking, scouting activities.

One area that would be great is the field that the college owns on the corner of Washington. It's never used, except when they are landing a helicopter for a movie (The Surrogates). But I know some dog owners have been kicked out of there before. Some owners don't clean up after their dogs.

We actually go up to Salem and use the dog park by the Train station. It's only $25 for the year. The area is huge and fenced in. Next year they are bringing in water and making a small dog area. It is run by the parks and rec department, they make sure every dog is licensed and has all their shots and you get a tag. I think they got it started with a grant or donation and had a piece of land that was aquired after the MBTA station was built. Plus most owners are responsible and make sure all the dogs have a tag or will get one and the dog officer does frequent checks.

If Lynn were to do it, they should model it after the one in Salem. It has been a success. I haven't lived in the area for that long so I'm not to familier with areas that could be used, but it's a cause that I would support.

I was up the woods the other day & a woman told me she got reprimanded by the State police at the beach because her dogs were off leash.She didn't get a ticket but I bet they will know her next time. I feel as if we don't get something enacted soon then dogs- like cigaretes will be illegal.

I wonder how hard it would be to find some small odd piece of land and turn it into a dog run? I remember an article in Cabinet a few years ago about how many cities have small pieces of land that can be purchased cheaply.