Eckington dog park meeting (and sign the petition) -- Thursday, 02-28-2013

From: Allison Stewart  
Date: Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 3:13 PM
Subject: Please come to Eckington dog park meeting Thursday, and sign the petition!
To: Eckington@yahoogroups.com, eckingtonkids@yahoogroups.com, Eckington Dog Park <eckingtondogpark@gmail.com>, BloomingdaleKids@yahoogroups.com, revitalizeourpark@yahoogroups.com
           

All,

                                                         

There is a well organized effort by people outside of our neighborhood to stop the proposed dog park at Harry Thomas field, which is at the very beginning of the planning process.  I am unaware of their agenda, since they haven't shared it on any of the neighborhood listservs or blogs, but since it's not organized by our neighbors I don't understand it.  [Note there is currently no funding set aside by DC for dog parks, but if any is in the future it gets Eckington in line for some.]  This organized 'anti-dog park' group could make it more difficult to get Eckington's dog park through the normal DPR process, which is a shame since it's not local (or logical, in my opinion). 

                                                

Which makes it more important to have a strong show of support at this meeting, which will also provide opportunities to ask questions (like about safety and sanitation, which I know some people have) and sign the petition.  If you have a dog, or would like your neighbors to have a safe place for their dogs to play off-leash, or generally would like fewer off-leash dogs wandering around the neighborhood (and the actual field at Harry Thomas), I would encourage you to come to the meeting on Thursday, 7-9pm, at the Harry Thomas Recreation Center on Lincoln. 

               

If you can't make the meeting, but would like to sign the petition in support of a dog park 'in this community' (as the petition says), please head over to Green Paws in Bloomingdale (it's on the counter) or email eckingtondogpark@gmail.com to have someone come by with a petition.

Best wishes,

Allison

PS I used to be an urban planner in Florida and there was this one woman who was always pushing for dog parks, practically every day.  As a dog lover but not a dog owner, I thought she was kind of crazy.  Now, as a dog owner, I understand why dog parks are so important, for healthy dogs and for healthy human relationships!  In fact I met my best friend at the Adams Morgan dog park.  It gave me new perspective on why people push back on amenities that don't benefit them (as I had done)... and made me feel quite humble.