OPINION: Oceanside Needs A Dog Park

OCEANSIDE, CA — This article was contributed by Bud, AKA Interested Dog Owner.

I and my wife and a few dozen people just in the S. Oceanside area have been using the elementary school park bounded by Cassidy, Horne, Kelly and Stewart for years. It's a pretty big area that's fenced in. It has playground equipment and a baseball diamond. The school uses it during classroom hours when it's off limits to the general public. I can certainly agree to that...

After school, kids come in to play on the equipment, shoot hoops, and there's a racket ball area. On weekends various local soccer teams might play or you may see a softball game.

No one can get in now!
A number of families with dogs would come in and hang out with their dogs and become friends. Within this core group, everyone picks up after their pet. In fact, many times they will also pick up juice boxes, sandwich and/or chip bags, masks, water bottles, etc. They also pick up other varieties of poop - some from other people’s dogs, some wild animals, and occasionally even human. Everyone respects the park and cares for it. A group even cleans out the garbage can of poop bags and soda cans after a busy weekend.

This year the school staff has closed the park. Even weekends and Holidays; for no reason, we know of. Recently they began maintenance on the grass which is the reason now, but the gates have been locked almost all the time with just a few exceptions all summer. The large holes in the park were not from dogs digging but from gophers.

Why are they blocking the use of a public area and all that equipment the kids use? (Liability??)
There was concern that the dogs were off-leash. But here we are in an enclosed area. The dog owners will not allow their dogs to go near any other activity. Undoubtedly, we know the dogs could interfere or worse be injured.

For years we have asked the City Council to honestly explore areas in Oceanside where we could establish a dog park. We proposed a plan for off-leash hours in existing parts of city parks. They finally did a feasibility study, but that’s been completed for some time now and there seems to have been no action taken. We suggested the city charge an annual fee which would cover much of the costs.

It doesn't have to be the elementary school lot. (However, it's definitely large enough to section a part off.) There have been other ideas from dog owners groups and petitions for dog beach areas as well.

I met with Jack Feller in his office a while ago to explain some of these ideas and concepts. He said he liked the plans but I believe it died when he left his office. Oceanside City Council stonewalls us to our faces and rejects any plan in closed session.

When you drive or walk around South O there are dozens of dogs being walked everywhere. According to the Oceanside Humane Society, the number of licensed dogs in Oceanside in March of 2020 was 10,990. The estimate of unlicensed dogs was 30,619. Pet adoptions soared during Covid, so we can believe that number is much greater now.

More importantly, the city WANTS to become more attractive to visitors. So many visitors bring their dogs. (Everyone in my family brings a dog when they come here!) A nice dog park would be just another attraction. (I'm not going to even get into the proposed Dog Beach request.)

But one last point. Our neighbor, Carlsbad, just opened their THIRD enclosed dog park. It's state of the art - for dog parks. Our guests and Oceanside visitors have to go to Carlsbad to let their dogs have a little exercise.

Opinion Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are solely the author’s and do not reflect the opinions of the Oceanside-Camp Pendleton, CA Patch or its affiliates.