Washington DC’s Georgetown and Westend neighbourhoods and their large parks should be a strong model of cooperative management between pet-owning and other families with the help of Department of Parks and Recreation. Unfortunately, despite large amounts of green area and parkland for some reason dog owning families are restricted to using a small plot called Francis Dog Park.

And that’s not a limited number of families. Nearly 40% of Washington DC's families now own a pet, up from around 21% in 2015 when the Francis Dog Park was first built. That indicates that dog ownership has gone up significantly. The lockdown has put further pressure on existent dog parks. Residential areas like Georgetown, Dupont Circle and Westend have high levels of dog ownership. The local dog park - Francis Dog park is a gravel pit which is harmful for paws, makes dogs filthy when they roll around and inhaled gravel dust is harmful for dog and human respiration alike. The park is small - The Humane Society recommends a minimum of 1 acre and Francis Dog Park is about one fifth the size. We know there are plans to upgrade it but that may take as many as three years and dog families have no clarity on the exact upgrade plans, timelines or what to do in the interim.

Right next door to Francis Dog Park is the highly underutilized Francis Field. Francis Field is used two days a week by frisbee and soccer teams for a few hours at most and remains empty at all other hours. Frisbee and soccer fans come and throw bottles and food wrappers around and make the surrounding areas relatively unusable on Saturday evenings but the rest of the week the field lies empty. The field is fenced in. With the right oversight from a dog owning families committee this can provide interim support to dog families seeking much needed exercise and playtime. The hours between 6 and 10 in the morning and 3 and 6 in the evening is all that is required. Can DPR enable the use of Francis Field as an interim measure?  As the Francis Dog Park is improved then the use of this field for dogs can be banned altogether.

Dog ownership is not just about some people fulfilling an indulgence or lifestyle. Dogs are family members, companions, service animals and guards. There are well researched positive impacts on cardiovascular health as a result of dog ownership (https://bit.ly/3ErEQ7j There are well researched impacts on children and their psychological well-being, empathy and resistance to allergies (https://bit.ly/3VkJzOY;​ https://bit.ly/3ABT707;​ https://bit.ly/3ETAIOC And for the elderly dogs can be a source of companionship and mental wellbeing. Given the right opportunity families with dogs will mean better communities and healthier well-adjusted happier children in those communities. 

Our main recommendations are:

Allow dogs to play in Francis Field between 6-10 AM and 3 to 6 PM on all weekdays except Saturday when ultimate frisbee teams practice in the evening. 

Recognize and empower a dog-owner committee to represent interests of this sub-group and help with the upkeep of Francis Field.