The beauty of a designated off-leash area is that you expect to be greeted by dogs and interact with them, regardless of their demeanor. At a park Lake Boren though, you do not expect to encounter roaming dogs, nor to worry about whether they will knock-over your toddlers or otherwise subject you to their wanderings.

I’m fine giving up a portion of the park for dogs, but a $25k fence does not make a responsible dog park. Off-leash proponents should take a lesson from the Marymoor S.O.D.A. (serve our dog area) group. They are organized, funded, and focused on ensuring that the environmental impact of dog activity is minimized (and that the dog poop is cleaned-up).

I wonder how many of the Lake Boren park rule-breakers are willing to spend the time, effort, and money necessary to appropriately manage an off-leash area. It’s easy to say that it’s a City issue to solve, quite another to volunteer.