Community advocates for Waco to create dog parks for better animal health

MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — Dog owners in the Waco community have spoken out about the lack of public space for their pets.
Several people spoke at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting to ask the City to create a city-run dog park.

The HOT Dog Park in Waco closed its doors in early September.

That left more than 100 Waco families without a regular, free, enclosed park to take their pups. Community members are calling on the city of Waco to create a city-run dog park.

A local woman said that with no place to take her huskies, she had to find them a new home.

Vernene Finger, 72, is among local community members disappointed by the lack of public spaces for dogs in the city.

“We just need a place where our dogs can socialize or even elderly people who can no longer walk their dogs but don’t want to abandon them, it has a lot of benefits,” Finger said.

Because this free 5.5-acre park is no longer available, Finger has no options for where to take her puppies and has had to rehome her two huskies.

“It broke my heart, but I knew I couldn’t walk them or give them the exercise they needed,” Finger said.

So Finger and several other dog owners in our community are advocating for the city to create a city-run dog park.

25 News reached out to Waco Parks and Recreation Director Jonathan Cook to ask if the city would consider creating a dog park.

“Work is progressing on several exciting park projects – China Spring Park, the Inclusive Regional Park in the Floyd Casey Development Area, and Waco Riverwalk – that will significantly enhance our natural and recreational offerings for our community and visitors to Waco,” he said. Cook said. .

“Additionally, we are exploring future projects with our multi-year capital improvement program and listening to our community members on park development and programs they want to see.”

“It broke my heart, but I knew I couldn’t walk them or give them the exercise they needed,” Finger said.

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