Milford residents push for dog park
Alison Bosma
The Milford Daily News
MILFORD — Three Milford residents are hoping to open a dog park in town.
"We want to be able to provide a safe space for dogs to learn how to socialize and play," said Brendan Rickert, whose Goldendoodle, "Mozzarella," just turned 2.
Rickert, along with Bryan Cole and Lauren Wilton, began planning for a dog park at the end of January.
They sent out a community-wide survey, started a Facebook group and unearthed a decade-old plan for a park that ultimately failed. The three hunted for solutions and issues presented then — from lack of space to maintenance to enforcing good dog behavior.
"Really what it comes down to is we know Milford is a fantastic community," Rickert said, "and we want to continue to attract people to move here. We want people to …. bring their business here."
The Facebook group "Friends of Milford (MA) Dog Park" has more than 200 members.
The trio wrote a letter last week to the town's Parks Commission and Parks and Recreation Administrator, James Asam. In asking for the town's support, the letter points to increased dog ownership nationwide since the pandemic began, and the 2,000 licensed dogs in Milford, which the letter characterizes as likely a "gross underestimate."
Not having a dog park means more dogs — with owners sometimes disobeying leash laws — on public trails, like the popular Upper Charles Trail, the letter points out. Two-thirds of the close to 200 people who completed the survey said they didn't have a safe space to exercise their dogs.
"That really does fill a true community need," Rickert said.
According to the letter, the park could be limited to canines with Milford dog licenses, rabies and kennel cough vaccinations, and dogs would need to be accompanied by an adult.
The letter, Rickert said, was a way to start the conversation among public officials, and "get the ball rolling."
Though the three don't want to tie the project to a specific site yet, the letter notes that Milford owns land it didn't when the idea was first proposed, meaning options exist.
Funding could be achieved through the nonprofit Stanton Foundation, which has a grant program specifically for building dog parks in Massachusetts. Applications require buy-in from town officials, but the foundation covers 100% of design costs and 90% of construction costs for 10 dog parks every year.
"We feel like the more community resources we have, the better appeal we'll have," Rickert said, "and …. we hope it's a relatively simple thing to do."
Find the dog park's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/milforddogpark.
The group is still looking for people to fill out its survey, at https://forms.gle/BjJNxECxx6VYdWwXA.
The next Parks Commission meeting has not been scheduled.
Alison Bosma can be reached at 508-634-7582 or abosma@wickedlocal.com. Find her on Twitter at @AlisonBosma.