A large group of Osoyoos dog owners, and their canine friends, gathered at the Osoyoos Off-Leash Dog Park on Saturday to show support for Elizabeth Burnett (third from far right), who has started a petition urging Town of Osoyoos council to reject a request to turn the current dog park into a minor baseball facility. The dog lovers say the current park is heavily used and shouldn’t be moved. (Keith Lacey photo)

More than 300 Osoyoos residents have signed a petition asking that Town of Osoyoos council not consider a request to turn the community’s current off-leash dog park into a minor baseball facility.

Elizabeth Burnett, 21, started the petition 10 days ago and she has been pleasantly surprised by the amount of community support.

The petition was started after Burnett read an article in the Osoyoos Times in July where well-known Osoyoos dentist Dr. Jason Bartsch made a presentation to town council asking them to repurpose the existing dog park into a minor baseball facility and move the dog park to Kinsmen Park in the east end of town.

As of this past Saturday, more than 150 local residents have signed a paper petition and more than 200 had approved an online petition supporting keeping the current dog park at its current location just north of Osoyoos Secondary School.

Burnett said no one she has talked to is against Osoyoos having an upgraded minor baseball facility, but many are against the possibility of closing the current dog park and moving it across town.

“I work at the Osoyoos Child Care Centre, so I work with kids every single day and I’m totally in favour of offering sports and baseball in our community,” said Burnett. “But the dog park has been hugely popular from the day it opened, it’s heavily used by hundreds of dog owners and none of us want to see this fabulous facility moved from here.”

Bartsch and his family are exceptional community leaders and she applauds him for trying to get a quality minor baseball facility built in Osoyoos, but not at the expense of the dog park, said Burnett.

“Nobody I know of is against what Mr. Bartsch is trying to do, but not at the expense of losing this place,” said Burnett. “We need kids playing baseball and we need a dog park … it’s all about balance.

“We just wanted to send a clear message to town council that this place has been extremely popular from the day it opened more than five years ago and it is being used and we all love it.”

Burnett said she and her two-year-old Springer Spaniel Border Collie Cocoa use the dog park at least once a week 12 months of the year.

“If you come here from six in the morning until just before dark, you will see just how busy this dog park is,” she said. “This park is heavily used and extremely popular and we just don’t believe it would be the same at any other location.

“Not one person I know believes the Kinsmen Park proposal would be a better solution. It’s just not the same quality as this place. We love this park and we love this location.”

Another consideration is minor baseball takes place over the course of two or three months, while the dog park is used year-round, said Burnett.

Burnett helped create the Osoyoos Off Leash Dog Park Facebook page and said the amount of community support for keeping the dog park at its current location is very strong.

Not only do dog owners love this park, but so do the dogs, she said.

“When I brought Cocoa up here the first time, she hid under my car,” she said. “She eventually came around and now she can’t wait to get up here every day.

“It’s a wonderful place to have dogs become socialized and this benefits the community at large when you have well-behaved, social animals.”

Burnett said she is going to be applying at town hall to make a presentation to town council about the dog park and why it should remain where it is now and well into the future.

“I just want members of council to know how important this dog park is to all the people who use it on a regular basis,” she said. “It’s a fantastic facility and we all feel it is heavily used and should not be moved anywhere.”

Claudia Nielsen, who recently moved from St. Albert near Edmonton to Osoyoos to retire, said she and her husband bought a house on the West Bench specifically because of the dog park.

Nielsen said she brings her two mini Schnauzers Zeus and Freya to the park almost every day.

“The biggest reason we bought our house where we did was because of this dog park,” she said. “My dogs were scared and shy when we moved here a few weeks ago, but now they have become socialized and become wonderful around the other dogs.

“I can’t say enough good things about this park. It would be basically devastating if the town closed it down or moved it across town.”

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times

Elizabeth Burnett throws a toy for her dog Cocoa at the Osoyoos Off-Leash Dog Park. When Burnett heard there was a proposal to turn the park into a baseball diamond, she began circulating a petition calling for the popular dog park to remain where it is. As of Saturday, about 350 people had supported the online and paper petitions. (Keith Lacey photo)