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Community Corner

Tails Are Waggin' at Happy Tails Dog Park

The park district's new park welcomes dogs of all sizes and provides an open area for play and exercise

Zoe, a peppy Chihuahua, sprints around the fence at the new Happy Tails Dog Park in Buffalo Grove. "She loves the freedom," said Jennifer Ledbetter, Zoe's owner.

Ledbetter brings Zoe for playtime weekly and likes the convenience of the park, which is just four blocks from her home. The park, which was officially dedicated on July 31, is located at the far south end of the Sidney Mathias Metra train station's commuter parking lot at 835 Commerce Court.
 
Ledbetter really likes the enclosed area for dogs under 15 pounds. "She's an indoor dog and she barely comes outside," said Ledbetter. "This way, she can be out and run free and she loves it."

Buffalo Grove resident Gwen Polanzi, brings her very active, half lab, half husky, Bella, to the park for the health benefits. "I think it's great for people and dogs to get a lot of exercise," she said.

Owners and their dogs can walk around the landscaped path and play fetch in the open areas.

"They have covered benches for the parents, basket of balls for the dogs, they've got drinking fountains and even poopy bags," said Ledbetter. "They've thought of everything."

Buffalo Grove Park District residents need to purchase a permit to use the dog park. An annual permit costs $30 for the first dog, $15 for each additional dog with a limit of three dogs per person. Daily permits are available for $6 with a limit of three dogs per person.

While Polanzi thinks the park is nice, she doesn't believe Buffalo Grove residents should have to pay to use the park. "We already pay taxes," said Polanzi. "It should come out of our property taxes."

The park cost about $150,000 dollars to build according to Mike Terson, Buffalo Grove Park District public relations and marketing manager. "There are costs of operating, building and maintaining the park," explained Terson. "We built in water lines at the request of residents who wanted water stations, plus the fencing, structures, landscaping. That's where the costs come in."

Terson added the property belongs to ComEd and said permits are required for health and safety reasons.

"If you live in Buffalo Grove, you like to know other dogs in the park are vaccinated and licensed," added Terson.

The Park District board presented the idea of a dog park six years ago and a public hearing was held in March 2008. "There was an overwhelming support from the community," said Terson. "Out of over 50 people in attendance at the public hearing, all but two were in favor of the project."

The village also gave the six homeowners bordering the park the option of a fence or landscaping. Bill Geleerd lives closer to the south end of the Metra parking lot and wishes he was given the option for a fence, since his dachchund barks at all the other dogs. "He doesn't go to the park," said Geleerd. "He gets scared of the other dogs. He likes it better barking at everyone."

Terson said overall the response from the public as been positive. Nearly 200 annual passes and two daily admissions have been sold. Terson said after a full year or two of use, the Park Board will likely consider whether to open it up to non-resident use.

Palatine resident Peter Schoenberg, who came to check out the park with his daughter, Jennifer Ledbetter, thought the area was perfect for his dog, a shitzu named Taylor. "I think it's really nice," said Schoenberg. "It's much nicer than others I've been to." Zoe and Taylor seemed to agree as they sprang up and started chasing down the fence line.

Permits are available for purchase at the Alcott Center. Annual or daily use permits can also be downloaded at bgparkdistrict.org and returned to the Alcott Center for processing.

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