Cole Park is a neighborhood park in Dallas, Texas. It has a large open field that is perfect for dogs to run and play off-leash. Unfortunately, the city of Dallas does not allow dogs to be off-leash at this park or any other city park unless it is one of the five fenced in off-leash areas in the DFW area. All of these fenced in off-leash areas are driving distance away. 

I have been taking my dog to Cole Park for almost 2 years now and it is a great place for dogs to run around. Lately, police officers have been patrolling the park and have been giving out tickets and threatening jail time to owners who have their dogs off-leash. There have also been threats made of impounding dogs that are off-leash. This has caused an immense amount of stress among dog owners that use Cole Park. 

Benefits to off-leash hours for the whole community:

• physical and mental exercise for the dogs
• social interactions for both dogs and owners
• enhances community safety 
• lessens citations/tickets
• helps seniors and disabled who have difficulty walking a dog on a leash
• positive amenity for those moving to the area

There are cities across the country that have successfully implemented off-leash dog hours and policies (i.e. Central Park in NYC and Zilker Park in Austin, TX). Central Park allows for off-leash dog hours in the early mornings (6am-9am) and during the night (9pm-1am) in designated hours across the park. Playgrounds and recreational areas like tennis courts are always off limits to dogs even during off-leash hours. 

We are hoping that bringing awareness to this problem will allow the city of Dallas and the Dallas Parks & Recreation to implement off-leash dog hours at Cole Park.  This would limit the worry of getting a ticket and allow dogs to run free while still benefitting the community. We are not asking for any infrastructure (i.e. fenced areas) to be built, but designated hours that us, dog owners, can take our dogs out to play. We recommend hours in the early mornings and hours in the late evening to allow dog owners to take their dogs out before and after work. We also recognize that the playground and tennis courts at Cole Park will always be off limits to dogs.