There will be no reduction to the number of trails where dogs can be kept off-leash at Pacific Spirit Regional Park after a vote by Metro Vancouver regional district directors.
Despite concerns over safety, complaints from the public, and ecological damage to park areas, Metro Vancouver staff will be focusing on education and enforcing existing rules on the leashing of dogs in the park.
Last year, Metro Vancouver launched a review of dog management policies in Pacific Spirit and recommended policy changes that would have seen a reduction in off-leash trails. The decision sparked controversy, leading to a petition from dog owners.
With 55 km of trails, Pacific Spirit is the busiest park in Metro Vancouver and roughly 30 per cent of visits are by people with dogs, according to the regional government.
Of those 55 km of trails, two-thirds are designated as leash-optional, meaning dogs can be kept off-leash while remaining within the trails and kept under control. The remaining trails require dogs to be on-leash; however the mix of designations have been described as confusing by some park users.
Whether due to this confusion or not, around 60 per cent of dogs on trails where leashes are required have been reported to not be on a leash, said Jen McCutcheon, the elected director of Metro Vancouver’s Electoral Area A— which includes UBC’s Point Grey campus.
“Significant increases in both education and enforcement are critical,” she said. “I have been advocating for increased staffing in the park since the rapid increase in usage of the park during the pandemic.”
The Metro Vancouver review concluded with a policy change to reduce the number of leash-optional sections to 51 per cent.
The changes were expected to come into effect in May but immediately faced a backlash from the public. A petition was started with organizers saying the change “threatens to dismantle the functionality of this park for thousands of residents.” The new plan, according to petition organizers, left too many trails fragmented and difficult to use for those wanting to let their dogs run off-leash. The petition garnered over 5,000 signatures.
Instead, organizers proposed trying enforcement and education improvements first, and reviewing their effectiveness over a 12 month period.
On February 4, Metro Vancouver’s Regional Parks Committee struck down the changes before they could come into effect. As a result, current trail designations will remain the same.
Park staff will also be installing new high-visibility signage while also increasing education and enforcement measures to address conflicts between dogs, their owners, and other park users, which are main source of complaints Metro Vancouver receives about Pacific Spirit. A review carried out by Metro Vancouver found that over the past five years, 398 safety incidents involving dogs have occurred—roughly one incident every five days.
And it remains to be seen if Metro Vancouver’s efforts will protect the park from ecological damage. “Research suggests that dogs off leash exacerbate environmental degradation in parks, which is especially concerning near areas such as our salmon-bearing streams,” said McCutcheon. “Metro Vancouver’s observations suggest that over 540 dogs are off-trail on off-leash trails every day.”
The unchanged trail designations also don’t address the desire of park users who want to avoid off-leash dogs. “While Parks staff work to improve signage, education and enforcement, I would like to see staff develop a trail designation option with a connected loop of on-leash trails (south of West 16th Ave),” said McCutcheon.
AMIE BERNAERDT IS A THIRD YEAR STUDENT AT UBC, MAJORING IN CREATIVE WRITING AND ANTHROPOLOGY. SHE LIVES IN WESBROOK PLACE.