Dearborn Now Allows Dogs At These 7 Parks

DEARBORN, MI — Dearborn is now a little more dog friendly.

The Dearborn City Council recently passed a new ordinance increasing the number of parks at which dogs on leashes are allowed to walk on park tracks. It was a measure recommended by Mayor Jack O’Reilly’s administration and passed by the city council on Nov. 26.

The parks which now allow leashed dogs are: Crowley, Geer, Oxford, Penn-Vasser, Schemansky, Summer-Stephens and Ten Eyck parks.

Previously, dogs on leashes were only allowed in Crowley and Geer and that was a trial to determine the success of the program.

Dog safety

Dog owners, note a few safety precautions: Dogs are restricted to only track areas of the parks, and dogs must remain on a leash that is no longer than six feet in length the entire time they are in the park. Dog-walkers must properly dispose of dog waste, too.

Any dog showing aggression toward people or other dogs must be removed from the parks. Dogs that have been deemed vicious or dangerous by a state or local government agency are not allowed in city parks, either.

In the event of a dog bite or scratch, local laws dictate that the injury must be reported to the Dearborn Police Department with 24 hours of the incident.

Any violation of the ordinance—including failure to report a dog bite, failure to remove a dog showing aggression from a park, or failing to leash a dog in a park—results in a civil infraction with increasing fines for each violation, with the fourth resulting in a misdemeanor offense, city officials said.

The new rules compliment the city's dog park, behind the Henry Ford Centennial Library and offering separate areas for large and small dogs, plus interesting structures for dogs to play on.