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Apr 29, 2008 4:26 pm US/Central
Pet Owners Want Flooded Dallas Dog Park Reopened
Marianne Martinez
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
It's one of the most popular places for pets in Dallas, but the dog park at White Rock Lake has been closed for weeks because of flooding.
The park was built on a flood plain and because of the recent rain there's a lot of standing water. Despite that, dog owners say they don't understand why the park has been locked up for so long.
Meredith Motley loves coming to the dog park as much as her dogs do. "It's really become a social outing for the both of us," she says.
For about the last month Motley and other dog owners have been trying to get the city to fix the flooding problem. Some pet owners have even jumped the fence at the small dog park, which isn't flooded, but still closed. Motley even got a ticket for it.
Officials say they can't drain water from the area because of concerns over dog waste. But the city says it has a new plan to aerate the ground and lay down a different kind of soil that will absorb water better.
"If there's a big rain event, you'll have some problems," said Carolyn Bray with Dallas Park and Recreation. "Our goal is to try to eliminate being closed as long as we've been closed."
Some dog owners hope the new plan works, but have their doubts. "I think they're just putting us off until the heat of the summer, when it's going to be drier than an adobe brick, and we'll have the same problem next fall when it starts raining again," Motley said.
While city officials say the park should be re-opened this week, it will take a few months before it is back to normal.
The White Rock location is so popular that the City of Dallas is looking at opening more dog parks in the next couple years.
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