CARLSBAD >> For the past few months, Sharon Fix, who moved to Carlsbad in October of last year, has been taking her two Pomeranian pups to the city dog park located on the west side of the Lower Tansill Dam. While there, she says she has also tried to do some weed control.
But the weeds, stickers and grass burrs are out of control, especially since the recent rains, and it has become too much for her to do. She said she is not the only one trying to do weed control, there are others.
Fix and other dog owners who use the dog park on a daily basis say they are continually picking stickers and grass burrs out of their four-legged companions. She said pleas to the city's Parks and Recreation Department to take care of the problem thus far have been fruitless.
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway, when contacted by Current-Argus, said he thought the problem had been taken care of.
"I'm going to put this as a high priority. The problem needs to be addressed immediately," he said. "I certainly understand the concern of the people who take their dogs to the park."
The majority of pet owners who bring their dogs to the fenced park are women.
Fix and her husband came to Carlsbad last year in search of a job and found the dog park "the best thing going" for Carlsbad.
But the city's lack of ground maintenance has Fix frustrated and fuming.
"I don't want them to close the park. That would be the most horrible thing that could happen," Fix said. "I liken this park to a public swimming pool. If you don't have a fence and have a lifeguard, then it becomes a safety issue."
She continued: "The city has failed to provide safety for the animals and owners. If the park was a swimming pool, it would be closed. We are not only pulling stickers out of the paw pads of our dogs, we are also pulling them off ourselves. It's painful for the dogs when the stickers and sand burrs get on them."
Fix said the dog park is also a place where some parents from out of town who are living here temporarily bring their children to play because it is fenced and they feel their children are safe.
She said frequent users of the dog park were willing to pool money to buy weed killer and spray weeds themselves. However, parks and recreation cautioned them against doing that. It would become a liability issue.
Jennifer Antonelli said she moved to Carlsbad from Arizona three weeks ago. She came with her boyfriend, who got a job here. Because of the tight housing market, they are currently living in an RV park with their miniature Jack Russell terrier.
As her dog expended her energy racing around the park and stopping to take a dip in a water trough, Antonelli kept her eyes on the dog, making sure she was not limping from attached grass burrs in her paw.
"This is a good place for her to run," Antonelli said. "I try to come here at least once a day. But they need to get the stickers mowed or removed. I'm constantly getting them out of her."
After allowing her two dogs to play in the dog park, Allison Moss checked their feet before loading them into her car. She said the dog park has been a "Godsend" for her since she and her husband are currently living in a motel while they try to find a place to rent. Her husband recently was hired at one of the potash mines and she followed him from their home in Lubbock.
"When we arrived here, I was at the motel and Googled the city of Carlsbad. I was surprised that there was a dog park here," Moss said. "It is a wonderful thing to have. I was coming here three times a day to get my dogs out of the motel for a little while. But the stickers are so bad that I'm coming less -- once a day. I'm constantly pulling stickers out of them."
Still, Moss said she will continue bring her dogs to the park until she and her husband can find a place to rent that has a yard.
"I don't know what the city can do about the stickers and weeds, but I'm happy they have this dog park," Moss said.
Stella Davis may be reached at 575-628-5546.
via www.currentargus.com/ci_24146908/thorny-issue-dog-owners-want-city-put-leash
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