Tougher language is possible for Bellingham laws regarding dogs in parks and trails
Bellingham is changing its rules for dogs and their owners or companions, making the definition of having your canine “under control” more explicit after continuing citizen complaints.
Changes in the law were first discussed at a City Council committee meeting in late August, and then again Jan. 24, where Parks and Recreation Department Director Nicole Oliver outlined potential new code language.
“There were so many different issues that had to do with dogs that had come to the forefront,” Oliver told The Bellingham Herald.
Parks staff were asked to set a minimum leash length, such as 8 feet, but discussions with the Bellingham Citizen Dog Task Force and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board focused on the meaning of having a dog “under control,” Oliver told the council.
A final version of the measure should be ready for consideration in about two weeks, she said.
Attacks a concern
Sehome neighborhood resident Elise Still started what became a lengthy discussion about off-lease dogs and dog attacks on the social media site Nextdoor this week, and she gave The Bellingham Herald permission to share her story.
Her post generated nearly 100 comments.
“I was out walking in the Sehome Hill Arboretum today with my boyfriend and dog when an off-leash dog approached us without an owner in sight. Off-leash is fine if your dog is under control and non-aggressive which was not the case with this particular dog,” Still said.
“The dog immediately ran up and lunged, biting at my leashed dog even though I had put myself in between and tried to stop the dog. The owner was far away and when I called for her to recall her dog she did nothing but walk toward us. I had to grab her dog off of mine and drag it back to her while it was nipping/biting at my arm,” Still said.
Parks Department employees field many complaints about dogs, including aggressive dogs, off-leash dogs and dog waste.
“It’s one of our top issues,” Oliver told The Herald.
‘Under control’
Under the proposed new code language, “an animal is presumed not to have been under control if injury, harassment, trespass or damage has occurred,” Oliver told the council’s Parks and Recreation Committee on Jan. 24.
Nearly one-third of Bellingham residents — a total of 33,764 households — have a dog, according to a presentation at the committee meeting by Fern Singer, a park ambassador.
Singer and other park ambassadors talked to visitors at Lake Padden Park last summer, explaining rules such as leash laws, giving away maps of off-leash dog trails and providing leashes when they were needed.
“I believe our gradual and community-focused approach contributed to our success. I believe that communication and positive relationships helped increase dog-leash compliance,” Singer said.
New signs explaining the rules are planned, along with more signs in parks — especially forested ones like Hundred Acre Wood, where there are no signs, Oliver said.
About $50,000 to $60,000 has been budgeted so that the park ambassador program can continue next summer, she said.
“We’d like to talk to the Police Department about exploring limited commission, similar to the city’s code-enforcement officer, that would allow city parks staff who go through certain types of training, who have certain job descriptions, to be able to issue tickets for minor infractions of park rules. It might really help the police in having to respond to concerns in parks,” Oliver said at the meeting.
Councilwoman Lisa Anderson sought the leash-law changes last summer, seeking an 8-foot limit because she was bitten by a dog on a long leash in a Bellingham park and was asked to seek tougher code language by a resident whose dogs have been harassed.
“Bellingham definitely is a dog community. But not all people welcome other people’s dogs,” Anderson said.
Good compromise
Anderson and Councilwoman Hollie Huthman, both members of the Parks and Recreation Committee, saw the new language as a good compromise.
“I have one of those dogs that does not react well to other dogs approaching her — usually not good for the other dog, if that happens,” Huthman said.
“So I keep her very, very close when we’re outside and it is really frustrating when other dogs approach and their owners don’t have control of them,” Huthman said.
“I know it’s an issue that I’ve heard a lot about over the last two decades of living here. It’s a small problem, in the larger scheme of things, but I know it affects a lot of people,” she said.
Off-leash areas
Dogs are prohibited at city of Bellingham playgrounds, athletic fields, Big Rock Garden Park and Woodstock Farm. They are permitted on other trails but must be leashed. Off-leash areas for dogs in Bellingham include:
▪ All trails at Arroyo Park.
▪ All secondary trails at Sehome Hill Arboretum.
▪ All trails at Sunset Pond, plus a dog exercise area.
▪ All trails at Little Squalicum Park.
▪ Maritime Heritage Park.
▪ A single trail at Lake Padden Park, which also has a fenced play area for off-leash dogs and a dog exercise area in the lake.
▪ Waterline Trail at Whatcom Falls Park, the connector trail to Lakeway Drive.
▪ Bloedel Donovan Park, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. year-round.
▪ Fields and trails near the Post Point water treatment plant.
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
