Perry City Council to hear proposal for dog park

A tract of undeveloped, city-owned property next to Perry's animal shelter on Ball Street will be presented to City Council on Monday as a potential site for the city's first-ever dog park.

Three separate 20,000-square-foot areas will be presented as possibilities for the council to consider, said Kevin Dye, the city's director of leisure services.

"When I realized ... the amount of property out there, it just made sense to look ... to see if there's room for a dog park," said Dye, who started working for Perry in June. "There's not a lot of (cities) in the country that have a dog park near the animal shelter. Those two groups, in my opinion, just make a lot of sense."

One of the biggest challenges for the animal shelter has been adopting out dogs, and Dye said he thinks a dog park would draw animal lovers and potential adopters. The timing for such consideration is appropriate as the city has recently taken steps to improve facilities at its shelter, Dye said.

"The animal shelter and the park itself could really help each other, in my opinion," Dye said, adding that the proposed areas are shaded by trees. "As far as I'm concerned, (dog parks are) not difficult to make (and) not difficult to maintain. It's not one of those type of parks that requires an abundance of earth moving and running and that kind of thing."

While such a park would provide a space for dogs to romp around unleashed, Dye said "it's not only for the dogs."

"Dog owners have a commonality," Dye said. "They like to talk to each other and compare their dogs. ... (A dog park is) just another way for people to have relationships and get out and enjoy themselves."

Mayor Jimmy Faircloth said he thinks a dog park would be good for the city.

"I think a dog park is something the public generally wants," Faircloth said. "I don't have anything negative to say about it. I'm anxious to hear what (Dye) has to say."

Faircloth said putting the dog park beside the animal shelter would attract more people to the shelter and "give them an opportunity to see the animal shelter and the complex that we have now and will hopefully feel moved to donate toward improving the facilities."

Perry City Council's work session is scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday in City Hall, at 1211 Washington St.

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter@Lauraecor.

This story was originally published December 13, 2015 at 9:55 PM with the headline "Perry City Council to hear proposal for dog park ."