Regs When Rover Romps

COURT HOUSE – A $1.3-million county Open Space grant will allow Middle Township to move ahead with plans for a multi-acre park complex in Rio Grande adjacent to the county bike path along Railroad Avenue.
One of the features in the plans for the park is Middle’s dog park, freeing residents and visitors from the need to visit Wildwood or Wildwood Crest in order to allow Fido to engage in exercise and social activity.
On Sept. 5, Middle Township Committee began the discussion of rules for the use of the park looking to examples of successful dog parks in Wildwood and Cape May for potential guidance.
Sensible rules, almost intuitive to many dog owners, along with reasonable fees, are key to making the proposed park another of the amenities that seek to draw visitors to the township.
Some of the rules in place at dog parks like that in Cape May’s Lafayette Street Park include cleaning up after one’s pet, ensuring that dogs are properly licensed and vaccinated, never leaving dogs unattended, and immediately leashing and removing dogs that become aggressive.
Rules at a dog park are about more than just promoting a pleasant experience. They are also about apportioning liability if an incident occurs and about meeting requirements for insurance coverage.
That need to balance the protection of the township in terms of liability with making use of the park easy and attractive to dog owners was at the core of the discussion with committee.
Committee member Timothy Donohue called some of the proposed rules “over the top.” He noted, for example, that people do not travel with proof of homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, one suggested requirement.
Admitting that dog parks depend upon a fair degree of self-policing from dog owners, committee members asked Animal Control Officer William Candell to look more closely at the experiences at other nearby dog parks.
The application process to obtain a dog park tag, along with signage at the site, would make clear the fact that users of the park are assuming liability for damages suffered by anyone who is bitten or injured by their dog at the park.
Such signage does not rule out someone initiating litigation against a municipality.
The benefit of having similar parks in operation in the county would allow Candell to discover how many incidents do occur and how well blanket disavowal of municipal liability works.
“We’ve still got some work to do,” was Donohue’s assessment as the committee agreed that it needed more information before finalizing rules for the dog park.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.