Okehocking's Off-Leash Dog Area To Be Fenced

The signs posted at both entrances of are hard to miss: "Dogs must be on leash!" they announce in big, red letters.

For some people, the message isn't getting through.

"A handful of people are ruining it; their dogs are out of control," parks director Mary McLoughlin said at a recent meeting of the Willistown Parks and Recreation Board.

That's part of the reason the board is moving forward with plans to reduce the parts of the park that are open to canines. The trail running north from the parking lot along Delchester Road will no longer be open to dogs, on- or off-leash.

Additionally, the off-leash field, which is about one-third of an acre in the park's southeastern corner, will be made smaller and enclosed by a fence. The township is currently getting quotes for the installation.

The boundary of the field will be moved back about 30 more feet from the parking area, to lessen the possibility of loose dogs running up on children and other visitors getting in or out of cars.

"I walk my dog there, and I feel like an outsider with my dog on a leash," board secretary Bob Kacergis said.

Aside from enforcing the standing rules of the preserve, the board cited a few additional reasons for the changes, including:

• To prevent dogs from running into the road or neighboring residential properties, some of which contain horses.
• To prepare for an increase in children in the preserve this spring, as the Okehocking Nature Center is expected to open there in April or May.

McLoughlin said she will be trying to reach out to dog-walkers in the weeks before the center opens and its programs begin.

"We need their help to police other dog owners who aren’t following the rules," McLoughlin said. "Supposedly there's a woman with two [unleashed] great Danes, and they're muzzled. So right off bat, that's a big, red flag."

Ken Lehr, a board member who also works in the in West Goshen parks department, said that self-policing initiatives can be tricky. West Goshen created a "Watch Dog" program, in which participants were issued cards with park rules and encouraged to help enforce them. But there were reports of Watch Dogs being "militant," and the program is currently in limbo.

Other members of the board noted that, so long as there was no real penalty to ignoring the rules, people would continue to do so.

"Unless cops go out and start handing out tickets, none of this is going to make a difference," board member Coleman Walsh said. "It has to cost people money. People know their dogs are supposed to be on a leash; they don’t care."

Willistown Police Chief John Narcise said that his department always responds to complaints related to dogs in the park, but has received very few of them. He said the police department is currently evaluating the situation at Okehocking Preserve.

[UPDATED 3/21 3:40 p.m. to include Willistown Police comments.]