Park board report favours dogs on transit

The Vancouver park board may not have any bite when it comes to transit rules, but they’ve still got an interesting bone they’d like to chew on.

“People, Parks & Dogs Strategy” — a report approved Monday evening by the park board — notes that most dogs, even if they’re well behaved, aren’t allowed on public transit in the city. But if they were, more dogs would likely be seen in the city’s dog parks.

Dave Hutch, the park board’s manager of planning and research, said that, even though the board has no authority or jurisdiction over the matter, the idea of dogs on transit reflected what was heard during public consultation.

“It was a comment we heard frequently,” he said. “The park board is really interested in people getting access to off-leash areas.”

The ideal is to have every dog in the city within a 15-minute walk of a dog park.

“That’s the mode we prefer,” he said, as it avoids the challenge of creating parking space in a city where both human and dog populations continue to rise, and is good for the health of both dog and owner.

In preparing the report, Hutch and his staff received more than 6,400 resident responses. The report makes recommendations on locating dog parks, on how those parks should be designed, how they should be cared for, and how rules and bylaws should be enforced.

Data revealed gaps between where dogs were living — based on dog licence addresses — and where dog parks are currently located, especially in Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant and Grandview-Woodland.

Dogs are allowed on transit in much of the U.K. and in cities like Berlin, where they’re required to have a special ticket, and Prague, where dogs can ride as long as they’re muzzled.

Dogs aren’t allowed on TransLink vehicles, unless they’re “certified guide and assistance dogs,” TransLink spokesman Chris Bryan said. TransLink has no plans to change the policy, he said, noting that small dogs are allowed on transit in “fully enclosed” carriers that can fit on a person’s lap.