News of the April 4 shutdown of a beloved off-leash dog park in Evergreen traveled quickly, like the Twilight Bark in Disney’s “101 Dalmatians,” over the foothills and along the Front Range, prompting speculation in dog parksby dog owners across the metro area.
Jefferson County Open Space officials had declared high levels of E. coli from dog waste. That, plus parking problems, forced them to permanently close Elk Meadow Dog Park.
A week later, at one of four well-attended dog parks in Highlands Ranch, a visitor commented that the size of Elk Meadow, 107 acres, was bound to lead to issues with unscooped poop. After all, off-leash dogs can race out of owners’ views. Admittedly, that can happen in small dog parks, too.
Kyle Hurt and his 6-year-old son, Mason, lounged on a bench watching their energetic boxer, Jersey, duck and weave around a feisty Australian shepherd in the Hound Hill dog park near Quebec and Lincoln streets.
“Why is it shutting down?” Mason asked his dad, referring to the Evergreen park.
“Because of the poop.”
“Why don’t they pick it up?”
Hurt, giving pet owners the benefit of the doubt, shrugged. “I don’t think it’s intentional.”
Hurt then admitted that the moment he takes his eye off Jersey is often the moment the little rascal decides to do his business.
Dog parks have become an integral and even expected part of many communities as dog ownership grows. Next year may be the year of the dog in China, but in the U.S. it’s shaping up to be the century of the canine. In 2000, Americans kept 68 million dogs as pets. We are now closing in on 90 million, according to the American Pet Products Association’s 2017 National Pet Owners Survey. (The U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of children at 73.7 million, meaning American households now have more dogs than kids.)
No wonder dog parks are the fastest-growing segment of city parks in the United States. A 2015 City Park Facts Report lists 644 off-leash dog parks in the nation’s 100 largest cities, a 20 percent increase in five years.
Naturally, with more dogs and dog parks comes more doggie downsides.
“There are over 20 different bacteria, viruses and parasites in dog feces that can infect other dogs,” said Michael Lappin, the Kenneth W. Smith Professor of Infectious Disease at Colorado State University.
Lappin is himself a dog owner who frequents dog parks, despite the findings he and fellow researchers discovered in a pair of recent studies they conducted at dog parks in Colorado and California.
In 2012, Lappin led one of the first studies to discover whether dog park visitation is associated with an increased prevalence of parasites. Lab results showed dogs that visit dog parks were more likely to test positive for two common parasites (giardia and cryptosporidium) than non-dog park-attending dogs. The strains of these parasites were those that infect dogs and not people, and none of the dogs or their owners fell ill. Similar results were found in the more recent California study.
“When you have a higher concentration of dog feces in a contained area, you can expect to increase the likelihood of exposure to these agents. Even if the feces are cleaned up promptly, there are still the presence of these microbes in the environment,” Lappin said. And some of those infectious disease agents can persist for prolonged periods in the environment, posing an increased exposure risk.
But if the dogs are healthy with normal stools and are on parasite-preventative products, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says dog parks pose a minimal risk. People who become sick from these agents are usually the very young or very old and those who are immune-compromised.
Still, all that poop gives pause. What’s the attraction for dog parks, anyway?
“I’m a dog park proponent,” Lappin said. “My perception is that there are many more benefits for the psyches of dogs and their owners that are able to exercise and socialize in dog parks than there are downsides from infectious disease risks, provided simple precautions are followed.”
And it helps if the areas can be maintained.
Martha Scott Benedict Memorial Park, originally called Ohlone Dog Park, in Berkeley, Calif., is recognized as the first dog park in the world, created in 1979. The nonprofit Ohlone Dog Park Association partners with the city to maintain park quality, much the way the newly formed Friends of Evergreen Dog Park group had hoped to serve Elk Meadows.
Volunteers there had organized an effort to clean up the park and proposed other solutions, including a membership system that would require owners to register their dogs and include DNA swabs, so owners of the offending stealth bombers could be held accountable.
But Jefferson County decided to close the park on April 4. The area, officials said, was a victim of its popularity: Some 4,000 people were using the park each week; last fall volunteers collected 500 pounds of dog waste during three days.
Businesses that offer poop-pickup services are popping up online, claiming to dramatically decrease dog waste in apartment and condo complexes and communities with HOAs. They are marketing themselves to dog parks also.
Longtime Evergreen resident Kris Johnson stopped taking her dog, Finn, to Elk Meadows in part because of the waste issue. “There were only one or two trash cans on the trail, so you’d have to walk for long periods holding the bag of poop. In all fairness, I don’t think they foresaw how popular this park would be.”Hopefully it can reopen at some point and others can also be created.
Nick Adamson, natural resource manager for Highlands Ranch Metro District, said he’s learned about the importance of regular maintenance and clear signage. “I think it’s cyclical mostly. During winter when snow is on the ground, we see more dog waste in the parks and on trails, but it’s not a huge issue here.”
The Metro District pays four technicians and a supervisor through funds generated by property taxes to maintain area trails, ponds and open space. Every Monday and Friday, techs refill the dog park bag dispensers and empty the sturdy metal trash cans (a.k.a. “poop ovens”).
Lappin likens dog parks for four-legged friends to children’s day care centers.
“Feces is part of our life. You just have to use common sense and good hygiene practices.”
If you are interested in taking your pup to a dog park, CSU Professor Michael Lappin recommends:
• Keeping your dog’s vaccinations up to date
• Following a deworming protocol
• Don’t bring young puppies, very old or ailing dogs to dog parks
• Wash your hands after visiting dog parks
The ASPCA supports community dog parks as a means for urban dogs in particular to exercise off leash and socialize with other dogs.
Ralph Johnson, CEO of the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association, said the CVMA does not have a policy specifically on dog parks, but veterinarians advocate responsible pet ownership, which includes proper waste disposal. For more information, click here.
Denver Dog Parks
• Berkeley Dog Park Berkeley. Sheridan & West 46th
• Railyard Dog Park Union Station. 19th St. & Bassett St.
• Little Box Car Dog Park Five Points. Broadway & Lawrence St.
• Sonny Lawson Dog Park Five Points, Park Ave West & California St.
• Fuller Dog Park Whittier, W. 29th Ave & Franklin St.
• Parkfield Dog Park Gateway-Green Valley Ranch, E. Maxwell Pl. & Idalia St.
• Green Valley Ranch East Dog Park Gateway-Green Valley Ranch, E. 45th Avenue & Jebel St.
• Greenway Park Dog Park East Colfax,
• E. 22nd Avenue & Syracuse St.
• Lowry Dog Park Lowry Field, E. 4th Place & S. Yosemite Way
• Kennedy Dog Park Kennedy, E. Hampden Avenue & S. Dayton St.
• Stapleton Greenway Dog Park Stapleton, E. 22nd Ave. & Syracuse St.
Suburban Off-Leash Parks
• Beaver Ranch Bark Park Conifer, 11369 S. Foxton Road
• Homer’s Run Dog Park Golden, 17651 W. 10th Ave.
• Grampsas Dog Park Golden, 4471 Salvia St.
• West Arvada Dog Park Arvada, 17975 W. 64th Ave.
• Little Dry Creek Dog Park Westminster Hills, 105th Ave. & Simms St.
• Trail Winds Dog Park Thornton, 13385 Holly St.
• Happy Trails Brighton, 1111 Judicial Center Dr.
• Grandview Dog Park Aurora, 17500 E. Quincy Ave.
• Cherry Creek State Park Aurora, 4201 S. Parker Road
• Bayou Gulch Parker, Fox Sparrow Road
• Devon’s Dog Park at Greenland Open Space Larkspur, 1532 E. Noe Road
• Matney Park Castle Rock, 5790 Lantern Cir.
• Glendale Farm Open Space Castle Pines, 12300 S. Havana St.
• Fido’s Field Highlands Ranch, 1042 Riddlewood Rd.
• Rover’s Run Highlands Ranch, 3280 Redstone Park Circle
• Digger’s Highlands Ranch, 3385 Astorbrook Circle
• Hound Hill Highlands Ranch, 9651 S. Quebec St.
• David A. Lorenz Littleton, 8560 S. Colorado Blvd.
• Wynetka Ponds Bark Park Littleton, 5875 S. Lowell Blvd.
• Centennial Park Englewood, 4630 S. Decatur
• Forsberg Dog Park Lakewood, 15900 W. Alameda Parkway
• Chatfield State Park Littleton, 11500 N. Roxborough Park Road
