‘PAWS’ITIVE responses were thrown all around following Canning Council’s unanimous endorsement of a trial for the first fully fenced off-leash dog exercise area in the City of Canning.
Dogs will be allowed off leash in Wilson Park, which is part of the Kent Street Weir precinct, from August 1 until March 31, 2019.
Wilson resident Peta Zeller said it was already normal practice among dog-walkers at the park to exercise their pets off-leash.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW“At the moment, people are using the area to exercise their dogs but the minute they see the ranger comes across, they just leash their dog,” she said.
“The area is completely fenced and the infrastructure is already there.
“The space as it is now is completely wasted and to use it as a dog exercise area is an absolutely brilliant idea.”
Mrs Zeller said allowing pets off leash gave her no concern about the safety of her dog, Milo, despite his age and condition.
“Our dog is nearly blind and very deaf so we don’t actually let him off-leash but it’s for their freedom and knowing that the public is safe there,” she said.
“Some of these dogs are quite big, and their owners need somewhere to take them so they feel safe and the public feels safe.”
City of Canning Mayor Paul Ng said the council had received a petition with 272 signatures in favour of the area being a fenced space for a dog exercise area.
“We have been listening to our community and have received feedback from users of the park that they would like to see the space used for dogs,” he said.
The trial will include a three-month consultation period for community feedback.