West Maple Ridge residents will be hitting the roads in order to give their pooches some free-run excercise after June 10, as time runs out on the Volker Park off-leash area.

For Gordon and Doris Westrand, that means driving to Pitt Meadows, or as far as Port Coquitlam so their little terrier Spud can tear around safely in an enclosed off-leash dog area and hang out with his buds.

Were lucky. We have the resources to travel, Gordon said Tuesday after a plea by dog owners at Thursdays parks and leisure services commission meeting to keep the Maple Ridge park open.

Those people who dont have the resources to travel, I dont know what theyre going to do.

The Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows Parks and Leisure Services Commission decided to close the off-leash area one of seven in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows at its April 10 meeting after hearing from some nearby residents.

Dog lovers then appealed to commissioners at the May 15 meeting.

The whole problem was the lack of openness and inclusiveness in this thing, said Gordon.

A petition with 1,200 names was presented, calling for the park to remain open. There was also a smaller petition by those who wanted the park closed.

Isnt that a lot of names? Doris said of the first petition. Shouldnt that have an influence, you think? she asked.

She pointed out that during the meeting, commission members were saying they wanted public input on a variety issues. They received it that evening on the dog park, she said.

Read the rest here:
Dog owners still mad over park