Commercial dog walkers will soon be banned from the off-leash area of Ramsden Park in response to resident complaints about noise and overcrowding.
But, a group of dog walkers have come together to call on the city to reverse the ban and say their livelihoods are at risk.
Jenn Reck is one of the creators of an online petition to reverse the ban that is set to go into effect September 19.
“So we now don’t have a park in the neighborhood to go to. So it affects me in that, I’m going to have to drive further. I can’t service my clients as well as I used to be able to,” said Reck.
Rebecca Riddel, who also helped create the petition, said the other issue is Ramsden Park is the only one with a designated area for small dogs in her service area.
“So essentially what the city is asking is that we take our small dogs from the small dog park and integrate them into a mixed dog park which is very dangerous,” said Riddell, who owns Bark Buddies.
City council adopted the ban on June 26 after Councillor Dianne Saxe brought forward complaints from some local residents noting lack of parking and near constant noise. Local Tom Clark said he’s also seen overcrowding.
“Sometimes when they bring the big hoard of dogs they all start barking and its kind of noisy.”
Other residents say the complaints are unjustified. “Noise? I mean you live beside a dog park and we’re in downtown Toronto. And parking? I mean you live in downtown Toronto so parking is hard,” said one nearby resident.
A letter from the ABC Residents Association presented to city council said in part: “The noise begins every morning before 6 a.m. It continues throughout the day and through the night, until after midnight. It persists through all seasons, rain or shine. It includes the slamming of the iron gates at the entrance as people escort their dogs to and from the area; the barking and squabbling of dogs in the area and the voices of owners and dog walkers talking to their dogs, to each other and on their mobile phones.”
The group of dog walkers believe the complaints are driven from a local resident who is building an addition to his home and does not want to hear dogs barking. But residents here say there’s more noise from construction.
The dog walkers have offered a solution: implementing a designated time limit for commercial dog walkers from 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
“We want access to the park between just those times. And the parking issues that they talk about, it’s manufactured. Like we absolutely have no issues finding parking ever,” said Reck.
While Councillor Saxe was not available for comment, she had previously said, “We may need bylaw changes if we wish to allow commercial dog walkers at specific off-peak daylight hours, which might be a reasonable compromise.”
Councillor Saxe has also said the ban is temporary until city staff come back with their Citywide Off-Leash Area Master Plan.