The Dog Park Coalition is a non-profit [501(c)(3)] organization seeking to maintain, improve, and expand the use of leash-free dog parks in the Las Cruces area.
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Voters passed 4 General Obligation bonds last summer, including one to create new parks and update some existing parks. This provides that a dog park will be built within the rehabilitated Burn Lake Park off of Amador Ave. Another GO Bond measure includes a new dog park in conjunction with the expansion of the Animal Services Center on the East Mesa. The City Parks and Recreation Department will hold Public Hearings prior to any approval of specific construction. The Dog Park Coalition has long expressed its willingness to help volunteers interested in getting a new dog park established. Contact us if interested.
We also Join us in our efforts make the Las Cruces Dog Park the best dog park it can be. Donate $20 or more and become a voting member, able to help shape Coalition priorities and policies. Please leave us contact information so you can be informed of events and news in a timely manner.
Before incorporating as a public charity, Las Cruces Dog Park Coalition convinced the our state representatives and the City Council to request state Capital Improvement funds to build the dog park. The City received $150,000 from the state, over $10,000 in private donations, and even more that was donated in the form of in-kind donations from local businesses convinced by the Coalition to construct the park.
Since the park opened in May of 2009, we have donated a solar street light, four (4) benches, a new waste station, scores of lawn chairs, a water feature/splash pad, a shade structure for our Special Needs section, and now two (2) pieces of agility equipment. The Coalition voluntarily suggested fencing off what is now the Special Needs area (that was originally planned for the area between the park and the balle fields to the east of the park).Coalition volunteers have donated thousands of hours cleaning things in the park and working with the city Parks Department to maintain the park. We have installed "black out" fabric over part of the park fence to help minimize unwanted excitement and accidental confrontations at the main gate. We got the City to install a new double gate on the east side of the park, and a new waste station, and the hill in the middle of the park, which is periodically turned and built back up. The City donated materials and labor, together with about 15 volunteers from Dog Parkers and the City-trained volunteer Tree Stewards group, and installed fencing around each of the 32 trees in the park, which we hope will keep dogs from urinating on the trees and digging up their roots.
The City is about to buy and install a weather-proof, combination Community Bulletin Board/Rainbow Bridge Memorial, which will allow pictures of and comments about deceased pets to be posted. The City has also submitted purchase orders for a trailer-mounted portable water sprayer to help keep down dust and wash waste matter, such as dog urine, below the surface of the park's ground cover. They believe they may soon get another truck for that purpose. We also want to get more security lighting, which seems essential after sundown: in summers, when it often only starts to get cool enough to hang around outside, and in the winter, when it gets dark so early after normal work hours.
Twice a year we organize a party to celebrate all the dogs born during the half-year. We celebrate the anniversary of the park's opening (May 22, 2009) and sponsor a Canine Costume Contest each Halloween (or the nearest weekend). See our "Events" page.
We also try to hold some "Canine Health and Safety" events at the park. We have and will again partner with Animal Control, the Shelter (Animal Services Center of Mesilla Valley), and local animal rescue/service groups, including the Mesquite Mobile Animal Vaccination Clinic, to provide low-cost vaccinations, implanted microchip identification chips and registration, and other services, including, at times, pet adoptions.
We try to be helpful to leash-free park newcomers and help to maximize safety and fun for the dogs. The Coalition also supports and works with other animal welfare groups in the county, including SNAP (Spay & Neuter Animal Program), APA (Action Program for Animals), the Humane Society of Southern New Mexico, Dona Ana County Humane Society, and the Animal Services Center of Mesilla Valley. And we greatly appreciate the usefulness of Dog Cruces, an on-line connection to most animal service groups and animal-friendly businesses in the area.
We voluntarily do all this because we love dogs, we appreciate the fact that we have a leash-free park, we understand that the City has limited funds for further improvements at the park, and that it is up to us, the park's users, to manage and improve conditions at the park. You can help by joining the coalition (click the "Donate" button and give $20) and/or by helping out with our scheduled events.