A Point of Clarification

Just to be clear, the funding that has been nixed is for the community dog park program, which is distinct from Swift Run. The big Swift Run project is still officially in the works and I'm hearing lots of promises that it will be done this fall. But remember that this project has been in the works for a long time now and many promises have been broken. In fact, it was on the PAC agenda last month, but never came to discussion. Realistically, Swift Run will probably happen in the future, the only question is how distant that future is and what kinds of solutions we will have in the interim.

Also, the city is still theoretically in favor of the community dog park program, just not willing to fund it. This means that alternate solutions may be possible including hours in parks, non-fenced off-leash areas, or something more creative. However, given the slow pace of planning and the fact that Ward Park is now deep-sixed, it will probably be a very long time before any of that can be a reality.

Once the code change allowing off-leash areas passes, the city will be legally ready to provide something for us. That means that getting that passed is our top priority now and our second priority is getting them to act quickly once it's passed. When the code change is a reality, we will find out just how committed Ann Arbor really is to providing services to dog-owning tax payers.