Dog parents welcomed the opening of a new off-leash park with a dedicated small dog area in Waverley West on Saturday morning.
Bridgwater Trails Dog Park officially opened in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Park, with a ribbon cutting with Coun. Janice Lukes and Mayor Scott Gillingham held in front of barking dogs who were already enjoying the fenced area.
“This park is more than a space for dogs to run free. It’s a place for neighbours to meet, friendships to grow and our community to become even stronger,” said Andrea Chow, a member of Lukes’ staff and resident of the neighbourhood.
The $275,000 project was built with funding from the Waverley West communities fund topped up by $50,000 from the mayor’s civic initiatives fund.
The one-hectare dog park was an underused baseball diamond where people were already gathering to let their dogs run, Chow said.
It features one of two dedicated officially designated small dog off-leash areas in the city. The other is in Transcona, in the eastern part of Winnipeg.
Andrea Chow says the dog park is a place that builds community. (Travis Golby/CBC)
Jon Waldman, who helps run the Wienie and Friends dog group, said he and others have been advocating for the much-needed space.
“We’ve seen so many cases, unfortunately, of smaller dogs being attacked by larger dogs,” said Waldman, who was at the park with his dachshund Oreo.
“Some just want to play. Some are a little bit more aggressive,” he said, but now small dogs like Oreo can “roam and play as they want.”
Eriko Tsuchi said Mochi, her border collie-Jack Russell mix, would happily spend all day at the park, and she echoed Chow’s words about community.
“It’s a good way to, like, meet people,” she said. “It just kind of brings the community together.”
Gillingham also used the event to praise Lukes, who’s not running for re-election in October, saying her decision not to run is “a huge loss for this community.”