Update: Dog Owners Pack Meeting To Back Petition

Jan 21, 2019 | 2:31 PM

Darlene Hainer presented a petition to city council to loosen dog control rules at Marshall Field (Tiffany Goodwein/Beach Radio News photo)

Dog owners packed Vernon city council chambers this afternoon, presenting a petition that asks for dogs to run off-leash at Marshall Field, but not on the soccer pitches.

“Dog walkers use it 365 days of the year in rain, sleet or snow,” said petition spokesperson Darlene Hainer.

Hainer said the “vast majority of dog walkers are very responsible” when it came to poop and scoop.

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“The animals can’t be exercised properly while on leash,” she insisted.

The group asked for dogs to be allowed to run free in an area between the soccer pitches and the creek, near Lakers Clubhouse.

Hainer also complained about “one small sign” warning people to keep their dogs on a leash or risk a fine.

Almost all councillors said they owned dogs, with Scott Anderson admitting he didn’t always keep it on a leash at Marshall Field.

“I’ve seen the sign for years and I’ve seen everyone, including myself, ignore it, “ Anderson said.

Coun. Brian Quiring proposed a motion to allow off-leash dogs in that one area, but it was withdrawn in order to allow staff to return with more information, including the possibility of a fence along that one stretch.

Meanwhile, councillor Akbal Mund warned there were people ignoring the rules.

On a recent walk on the field, Mund said he saw “9 poops on the field and 2 dogs running around the field.”

“There is a concern,” he said. “There has to be a system for irresponsible dog owners.”

Coun. Kelly Fehr said he’d received some emails from parents with kids worried their children could be bitten by dogs running free.

Coun. Dalvir Nahal asked staff for information on dog incidents in that area over the past few years.

6 am story

A petition aimed at getting changes to the dog walking rules in Marshall Field will be delivered to Vernon council today.

Darlene Hainer has collected what appears to be hundreds of names calling for a bylaw change to allow dogs to be walked off-leash in the area between the soccer fields and the creek.

She says in all the years they have walked there, they have never seen any “serious kind of dog encounter.”

“There is a lot of concern being expressed by regular dog walkers with the on leash regulation,” says the petition.

by Kate Bouey