Owners Howl Over Proposed Dog Park Regulations

District Pushes Rules For Health Reasons

David Hess and K.C. play in an experimental dog park, established a few years ago in the southwest corner of Walter Pierce Park in Adams Morgan. (By Michael Williamson -- The Washington Post)

MayB'lene is getting a little chunky these days. She hasn't been able to stretch her legs and run free.

Half bichon frise, half cockapoo, the 7-year-old pet is "starting to look like a furry coffee table," owner Kathy Silva said, as the two stood on a grassy field near McLean Gardens in Northwest Washington.

Dog owners such as Silva, who is co-founder of a 600-member group called DCDOG, want the District to set aside public land for dogs to run off leash.

Now the city has come up with a set of proposed regulations for dog parks.

Among the proposed rules: A dog park must be at least 200 feet from businesses, school playgrounds and houses. The area must be 10,000 square feet -- a quarter of an acre -- or more, take up no more than 25 percent of a park and have a slope of no more than 5 percent.

And the Health Department must certify that there are no rats within five blocks. In a city.

The city says the rules are needed for environmental reasons, as well as to prevent humans from being infected with diseases associated with dog waste.

But many dog owners are unhappy, claiming requirements such as the rat-free certification would be impossible to meet in an urban environment.

In effect, they claim, the proposed regulations mean there will be no dog parks in the District.

"I don't think any city can certify that," said Mindy Moretti, president of Friends of Walter Pierce Park, where the city has authorized an experimental dog park. "I talked with people in Seattle and New York, and they just think that's laughable."

The city has planned a series of public meetings in neighborhoods across the city to get feedback. The first is tonight at the Chevy Chase Community Center. The rules have been a hot topic of conversation at the city's informal dog parks, and owners predict hundreds of irate residents will show up to register outrage.

"We are being considered second-class citizens because we are dog owners," Silva said.