A Park Goes to the Dogs : City Council Bows to the Demands of Owners, Designates Rustic Spot Where Canines Can Do Their Thing, Legally

Laurel Canyon Park has gone, officially, to the dogs.

Unofficially, it’s been that way for some time, ever since a small group of dog owners began letting their pets run loose there in defiance of the city’s leash law.

Then word spread, until there were dozens of adamant dog owners--including such celebrities as artist David Hockney--who argued with their neighbors, fought with animal control officers, packed a City Hall hearing room and even enlisted the support of former Vice President Walter F. Mondale to gain sanction for Los Angeles’ dog park.

It soon became a park where the animals ran loose while the children were caged--in a small playground tucked away in a corner.

On Friday, the dog owners won.

Hours for Running Free

The City Council declared the small grassy area atop the Santa Monica Mountains the first park in the city where animals will be permitted to run free, at least part of the day. By an 11-0 vote, council members set free the animals between dawn and 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. until dusk, drawing applause and cheers from about 100 dog owners who attended the meeting.

“There are over 200,000 dogs in the city, and there is not a single facility where they can go to exercise,” said Councilman Joel Wachs.

Officials said the Laurel Canyon Park precedent may lead to establishing other leash-free areas around the city.

Merely four acres, the park is located off Mulholland Drive in an affluent hillside neighborhood above Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley. At the entrance is a sign showing a man walking a dog on a leash, a reminder of the law. But down below, the picture is different.

On a nice day, as many as 100 dogs can be found romping around the park, unrestrained.

Playground Fenced

Off to the side, the childrens’ playground is enclosed by a metal fence and posted with half a dozen signs warning “No dogs allowed.”

Everywhere else, there is no question who rules.

Water bowls dot the ground. Pooper scoopers stand against numerous trash cans posted with signs that read, “Please pick up after your dog.” Tacked to a bulletin board are advertisements for “dog-sitting” and “dog-walking” services.

On sunny weekends, expensive cars pull up with dogs hanging out the windows, the expressions of Pavlovian pleasure on their faces reminiscent of children arriving at Disneyland. Before noon, the parking lot fills up, and cars stand along both sides of the road leading in and out of the park, despite “no parking” signs there.

Dogs of every kind are there, from expensive show champions to scruffy mongrels. Some chase a ball or a Frisbee. Others simply stand around in a crowd. Their owners, meanwhile, stand around in their own crowd.

“You meet lots of people,” said Joella March, a West Hollywood artist and art teacher, who was running her dog in the park. “It’s good for the dogs and good for the owners, too.”

Some residents of the surrounding neighborhoods bring their dogs because their hillside homes have no flat back yards and there are no sidewalks for walking pets.

But dog owners also come here from throughout the city. Santa Monica attorney Barbara Fox said she takes her beagle, Casey, on the 38-mile round trip because her community does not allow dogs in its parks, even on leashes. And word had spread of this one, special park.

The City Council’s action comes four years after Laurel Canyon Park became a battleground between dog owners and other park users who complained that the animals were taking over the place, making it unsafe and unsanitary for humans.

At least a few dogs can be found running loose at every park in the city. But, said Elaine Kohn, a Laurel Canyon resident, “I ask you to show me another park in the city that has the concentration of dogs that this one has.”

Each side counts some of the area’s celebrity residents in its ranks.

Actor Anthony Perkins sent a letter to the City Council complaining that trips to the park had turned “into a nightmare.”

“My wife and my two school-age sons no longer even want to go there at all at the risk of being run down by the dogs,” Perkins wrote. “If anything, there should be a fenced dog playground in a people’s park, not the other way around.”

Hockney, who featured Mulholland Drive in one of his most famous paintings, spoke on behalf of the dog owners at one council hearing. Responding to complaints about dog droppings, he commented, “Some of us think the world is a little too hygienic anyway.”

“Whenever I run into David Hockney,” said Councilman Mike Woo, whose district includes the park, “all I want to talk about is art. All he wants to talk about is the dog park.”

Tangle Over Playground

The controversy intensified in 1985 when a group of dog owners protested plans to construct the playground. The group, ParkWatch, contended that the play area would destroy the natural beauty of the park and lead to removal of the dogs.

The dispute turned nasty when someone, never identified, spread dog biscuits in the park with flyers warning that the biscuits were laced with poison. Tests turned up no poison.

Later in 1985, dog owners literally fought with animal control officers sent to the park to enforce the leash law. Dog owners alleged that as many as 10 officers rushed the park, issuing hundreds of $47 citations to violators and chasing some dog owners into the surrounding brush.

“It was our Boston Tea Party,” said Jane Purse, the feisty 75-year-old leader of ParkWatch.

“You must realize that these are by and large a group of middle-class and frequently middle-aged people who have never broken the law in their lives,” said Purse, who takes her dachshund and Doberman pinscher to the park.

Several dog owners were jailed and charged with resisting arrest. One man who was convicted of resisting arrest was placed on three years’ probation--a condition of which was that he stay away from the park.

‘Nice Social Atmosphere

The man, Robert Greene, a 58-year-old sign maker from West Hollywood, returned to the park with his three dogs a few weeks ago, within days after his probation expired. “You meet a lot of people there,” Greene said. “It is a really very nice social atmosphere for the dogs and for the people.”

The clashes with animal control officers eased off in 1986 after dog owners complained to the city Animal Regulation Commission. The dog owners also began lobbying city officials to allow dogs to run loose in the park.

Former Vice President Mondale got into the act at the request of his daughter, Eleanor, who--until recently moving to Chicago to take a broadcasting job--liked to let her Rottweiler, Teddy, romp around the park. In 1985, he called Mayor Tom Bradley to ask him to “take a look at the matter.”

During hearings before the City Council, ParkWatch members contended that they earned the right to let their dogs run free because they spent money to clean and patrol the park and rescue it from gangs.

“After all, it was the presence of dogs that chased the criminals from the park,” Purse said.

But other park users complained that they were being chased away as well.

‘Not Watching Their Dogs’

Janja Vujovich, a Laurel Canyon resident, said that while dog owners stand around talking, “they’re not watching their dogs,” making her fear for the safety of her two small children.

“When my youngest was only a month old, a big pack of dogs mowed him over. He was just frightened to death.”

“I’m not anti-dog,” insisted Jerry Greenfield, president of the Laurel Hills Homeowners Assn. and an opponent of unleashed dogs in the park. But Greenfield, a dog owner himself, said this park is simply too small for the novel program and that leash-free areas should be established in larger parks, where there is enough room for both dogs and humans.

Greenfield also contended that the city should not give in to “lawlessness” by “dignifying people who took over that park.”

Until City Council redistricting in late 1986, it looked as if there might be no official attempt to settle the dispute.

Before redistricting, the park was in the district of Councilman Wachs, who blocked efforts to allow dogs to run loose there, agreeing with neighbors who said it was too small an area. But redistricting put the area in Councilman Woo’s district.

Last year, Woo offered the compromise that would allow dogs to run free in mornings and late afternoons. Dogs will be allowed in the park at other times, but must be leashed.

Los Angeles now joins Berkeley and San Francisco as cities that allow dogs to run free in some park areas. The council action also asks the city Recreation and Parks Department to report back in six months on the time-sharing plan and whether it should be expanded to other parks.

Whether the time-sharing plan will settle the dispute is unclear. Critics expect dog owners, who won their victory through years of civil disobedience, to ignore the new rules.

Woo said the controversy has been like nothing else he has seen during his three years on the council. When he was elected, he noted, “I did not envision basically being a broker between people who love dogs and people who hate dogs.

“I have no vested interest in the outcome of this,” he added, “since I don’t have a dog.”