Arcata Dog Park news...

Hey, all you wonderful supportive cheerleaders of the dog park efforts over the past several years!

We appreciate you so much and apologize for not being in touch more often. Our nose got bent out of shape when the progress smelled funny. Sniff sniff. We barked, whined, and wagged our tail, but to no avail. Well, let my human put this another way:

Thanks for your inquiries and advocacy over the years. We made some good progress the first three years and met monthly with City Manager Karen Diemer who was faithful in keeping us updated and generally supportive of our efforts. (She must like dogs, too). However, the process for the city council to decide on the toxicity study, contract with a local firm, detail out what levels to be studied and for that business to do the work, come up with results, and let the public know went on forever.

Then came the pandemic which made meeting with the City Manager impossible, and our lives just turned upside down. We really do not know at this time what the status is of the toxicity study and what work needs to be done, if any, so it is deemed safe as a dog park.

I think once we’re beyond the pandemic, the city council will hold public hearings about the use of the Little Lake Property by the marsh which is where all of our efforts were directed. When that time comes, we all need to be at those hearings to advocate for some acreage to be devoted to a dog park. (We proposed 7 out of the 12 acres.) At this time, we’re going to allow the website to lapse, but if there’s any hint of action for the dog park plan to be taken out of mothballs, we’ll put it back up and renew our contacts with you.

In the meantime, stay healthy, and maybe we’ll see you at Hiller which is where my doggies go for fun and walks.

Gratefully,

Pamela Brown