Doggie freedom curtailed at park
By Kathy Uek/ Daily News Staff
Monday, October 2, 2006 - Updated: 01:47 AM EST
FRAMINGHAM -- Upset with recent changes that mandate dogs be kept on leashes throughout most of Callahan State Park, Sarah Hill is gathering support to allow dogs to roam the park’s miles of trails, woods and streams off-leash.
"What’s frustrating to me is we were not given the opportunity to compromise and make things different," said Hill, owner of a small dog-walking business, called FitPet in Southborough.
Thus far, Hill has obtained 200 signatures for her effort to make the 820-acre park, which boasts seven miles of trails, as off-leash, overturning recent Department of Conservation and Recreation rules.
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, two employees from the DCR informed dog walkers of the Framingham park’s new rules.
"Dogs have to be on a leash in the parking lot and on the trails at Callahan and the dogs can run free in the area around Eagle Pond," said John Dwinell, forest and park supervisor at Cochituate State Park. Callahan does not have staff from September through May. Dwinell could not comment further.
Among the animals enjoying Callahan recently was Beau, a three-legged yellow Lab who had been penned up for six years by a previous owner.
Today, the 75-pound mix-breed dog loves to swim, sniff and run at Callahan State Park, according to owner Julia Dixon Eddy who also enjoys going to the park.
"I use the time to be with my dogs, enjoy the beautiful environment there and de-stress from life," she said. Dixon Eddy owns Beau and Autumn, an 85-pound golden retriever who learned to socialize at Callahan State Park after being taken from a kill shelter.
Hill and others also plan to contact the Framingham Historical Society to determine if the property was willed, what was the intent of the its original owner.
Every day of his 12 years, Isaac, an American water spaniel, went to the multi-use park also used by horseback riders, mountain bikers, hikers, families with children, dogs and joggers.
"Isaac probably knows the park better than anyone," said Joel Feingold, who understands the impact these changes have on dog owners.
"I estimate in the vicinity of 60 to 70 percent of the 100,000 park users are off-leash dog walkers," said the Framingham resident. "It’s the predominate use of the park."
Feingold believes many dog walkers will be denied a unique recreational opportunity because the DCR cannot provide manpower to monitor the park. "What that means is there are one or two bad apples who have created the problem and they are causing the rest of the users to not be able to use the resource."
These changes are not new for Callahan, according to Feingold. "In 2002, Don Stoddard, regional director of the then-DEM (now the DCR), mandated dogs in the parking lot must be leashed," he said.
Volunteers wore vests, picked up poop and advised people to keep their dogs under control. Over time volunteers became fewer in number resulting in less enforcement, Feingold said.
Many dog walkers don’t want to accept this new policy and will work actively to reverse the recent decision.
Besides the petition, Hill also hands out fliers on how to contact park officials. This information is also on www.k9parks.com
As the grassroots organization builds momentum, state Rep. Deborah Blumer, D-Framingham, plans to get involved.
"The dogs have been able to run there for a long time. It would be nice to be able to preserve that," said Blumer, who plans to contact the people who act as stewards of the park. "If there’s a community meeting, I would like to attend."
(Kathy Uek can be reached at 508-626-4419 or kuek@cnc.com.)
| |
Two friends play at Callahan State Park. (Contributed photo) |
|
E-mail
Graphic
Popular
