New rules for dogs at WWII Park passed

Council votes to revise, expand ordinance on pets in city’s parks

WOONSOCKET – The City Council made another attempt to establish a new dog policy for World War II Veterans Memorial Park at its meeting on Monday and approved a revised version of the legislation that now applies to all local recreational areas.

The 4-3 vote on a proposal submitted by Councilman Garrett Mancieri prohibits domestic pets like dogs and cats from specific areas of the parks such as baseball playing fields, basketball courts and children’s playground facilities as well as the new city splash park at World War II.

But pet owners can still walk their leashed animals in other areas of the parks so long as they abide by park rules and keep them away from the areas covered by the ordinance’s prohibitions.

Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt had originally requested passage of an ordinance banning dogs from World War II park as a way to prevent potential incidents at the new splash park and other youth facilities created under the park’s recent $2.6 million renovation program. Dog owners could make use of other city parks where there would not be conflicts with children’s play areas or would discourage their use by elderly residents, according to Baldelli-Hunt.

Council members such as Council President Robert Moreau also raised the question of potential safety risks to children in the new splash park and playground at WWII Park, but were not able to muster the support needed to enact a full ban.

The council instead voted 4-3, with members Mancieri, Albert Brien, Daniel Gendron and Roger Jalette in favor, to grant the first of two required passages for the expanded park ordinance.

“What we did is amend the legislation so that dogs are allowed in city parks but excluded from areas such as sports fields — baseball fields and basketballs courts, the splash park and playgrounds,” Brien said.

Brien said he supported the prohibition against pets being brought onto playing fields because some pet owners like to use the fenced in areas to let their pets roam, but in turn do not always clean up after them when they leave droppings on the field. The legislation, which will require a second vote of approval from the council, also includes a schedule of fines for violations of $50 for a first offense, $100 for a second offense and $200 for a third offense and every offense thereafter, according to Brien.

“So the moral of the story is don’t take your dog to the park,” Brien said of the potential costs of a violation.

Mancieri said on Wednesday that he believed the approved ordinance was a compromise between protecting children’s play areas and allowing pet owners to also have access to city parks.

“We had people reaching out to us because they still want to walk their dogs in the park and that is something I can sympathize with and support,” Mancieri said.

The ordinance as it stands now applies to all city parks and establishes a ban on domestic animals in facilities for children such as playgrounds and the splash park and the athletic playing fields themselves, he noted.

Pet owners would still be able to bring their leashed pets to the viewing areas of athletic fields such as the stands at baseball fields, he said.

Applying the measure to all parks should also make the ordinance easier to enforce, he said while pointing out people might seek to ignore the ban if had been applied only to World War II park.

The ordinance does provide the Council with the authorities to designate other specific areas of the parks for the prohibition of pets and also for specific events such as Autumnfest if necessary, he said.