Dog owners beware: Bellingham’s City Council on Monday rewrote the rules for pets in city parks, hoping to draw a clearer boundary between “good dog” and “bad dog” behavior.
The new code language, approved in a 6-0 vote, doesn’t change the basic ground rules. Pets must still be on leash in Bellingham parks, unless they’re in an off-leash area.
Despite the existing regulations, dogs routinely get out of hand in city parks.
“This is an issue that I’ve heard a lot about over the last two decades of living here,” council member and dog owner Hollie Huthman said at a council meeting on Jan. 24, when the code changes were still under discussion. “I know it affects a lot of people, so I’m glad that we’re addressing it.”
The council clarified what it means for a pet owner (actually “responsible person” in the new wording) to have their animal “under control.” Dogs must not be allowed to come into physical contact with another animal or person in a city park. A dog is deemed to be not under control when it harasses or injures others, or damages or trespasses on property.
Council member Lisa Anderson proposed the rule change last fall, after hearing from a resident whose dogs had been harassed by another dog. The offending animal had been on a leash — but it was a long leash. Bellingham police and the Whatcom Humane Society determined that the rule at the time was too vague to enforce, Anderson said.
Anderson’s initial thought was to set a maximum leash length, but parks department staff, with the help of the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board and Bellingham’s Citizen Dog Task Force, settled on the new “under control” language. Anderson said she was happy with the results.
Pet owners caught violating the city-park leash law can be ticketed and fined up to $250. The Parks Department is talking to the Police Department about giving parks employees the authority to write tickets, but they will continue to emphasize education over enforcement.
Park ambassadors built relationships with dog owners in city parks last summer, using what Lake Padden ambassador Fern Singer called a “gentle, gradual and community-focused approach” to educate people about the rules. Presenting to City Council in January, Singer said the soft approach worked. Parks staff saw about a half dozen dogs off leash every day at the beginning of last summer. By the end, the number of these violations had declined to about a half dozen per week, Singer said.
Parks Director Nicole Oliver said in January she plans to post more signs reminding people to keep dogs on leash — including at the Hundred Acre Wood, which had no such signs.
