Roxborough Dog Park 'Incident' Causes Temporary Closure

ROXBOROUGH, PHILADELPHIA – The Roxborough Dog Park is closed after an "incident" occurred Thursday, according to the park. Officials did not say what the incident was and that the park does not have time frame for when it will reopen.

"Apologies for the inconvenience and inability to give a firm date and timeline but, as always, we need to keep the focus on safety of the humans and dogs who come to the park," officials said in an announcement.

The non-profit, volunteer-run dog park will remain closed while board members work on plans to make the dog park a members-only space, according to the announcement.

The next dog park meeting is slated for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13 at the Roxborough Library, 6245 Ridge Ave., and the public is invited to attend. Officials said updates will be provided following the Sept. 13 meeting.

Park goers have been seemingly left in the dark, with comments on Facebook and Instagram asking what exactly happened.

"It's a great space," Liz Mishler who frequents the park with her dog, told Patch.

Mishler said she has no idea what happened to cause the closure.

Mishler, who's been visiting the park with her dog for several months, said she hasn't encountered any troublesome incidents at the park, saying park goers are usually kind and leave you to your own fun.

"It was one of the few places we could bring our dog," she said. "It's one of the bigger dog parks in the area, easy access for parking."

She said the closure will make taking her pup our for fun difficult, as the nearest dog park is in Manayunk and has its own rule set.

The Roxborough park's rules include no kids under 15, cleaning up after your dog, removing aggressive dogs immediately, and more. But Mishler said she's unfamiliar with how the park enforces those rules, including how to keep it members only.

"It's upsetting," she said. "You don't know what happened and no one is giving out information."

Mishler said she plans on attending the meeting to glean more information about what happened.

Patch has reached out to park officials to learn more about the abrupt closure and will update the story when details are made available.

Image via Google