L.A. Quietly Extends Life of Dog Park

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved extending the life of the city’s only dog park Wednesday, with no discussion and none of the theatrics that marked a commission hearing on the subject earlier in the week.

Under the motion introduced by Councilman Michael Woo, Laurel Canyon Park on Mulholland Drive will remain open to dogs through March 1, 1990, instead of closing in September. In a concession to opponents who said they were awakened by dogs barking, the morning hours when dogs can run free of leashes will be 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., instead of dawn to 9 a.m.

The off-leash privilege resumes at 3 p.m.

A Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners hearing Monday on the dog-park issue was interrupted when one woman delivered a plastic bag that she said contained 35 dog droppings gathered at the park. Board members angrily asked her to remove the bag from the chambers and forbade her to testify.

Safety and Sanitation

But other anti-dog witnesses said the pilot project had made the park unsafe and unsanitary for their children. They estimated that 100 to 200 dogs used the park daily, making it more like a kennel than a park.

Proponents responded that the presence of dogs and owners chased gang members and drug dealers from the park, so neighbors feel safer there now.

Board members said that during visits to the park they had found no evidence that the dogs caused problems.

The board had also voted Monday to add two more dog parks, one in Encino’s Woodley Park and the other in Griffith Park. But the council motion did not include those parks, which will cost an estimated $50,000 to open. A Woo aide said they would be considered separately.