Removal of Commercial Dog Walkers in Ramsdon Park – Comments from Ramsden Park Dog Owners
To the City Clerk:
Please add my comments to the agenda for the June 11, 2024 Toronto and East York Community Council meeting requesting the General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation remove commercial dog walkers from Ramsden Park.
I understand that my comments and the personal information in this email will form part of the public record and that my name will be listed as a correspondent on agendas and minutes of City Council or its committees. Also, I understand that agendas and minutes are posted online and my name may be indexed by search engines like Google.
I am the Chairman of the Ramsden Park Dog Owners Association, which was formed in accordance with the City’s People, Parks and Dogs Policy of 2007.
Ramsden Park Dog Owners Association supports Councillor Saxe’s request for the removal of the classification of Commercial Dog Walkers for the Dogs Off-Leash area in Ramsden Park. Our community-based Dogs Off-Leash area is too small to support the large groups of commercial dog walkers. We have received complaints from residents who would normally use the space but find it too congested, dangerous, and crowded with commercial dog walkers.
When the DOLA fencing was being discussed, we did advise that it would result in a good number of Commercial Dog Walkers coming to use the DOLA. The partial fencing meant that owners had to be aware of their dogs and their dogs had to respond to recall for their own safety. Now dog owners can socialize, paying no attention to their dogs, and so can Commercial Dog Walkers.
Additionally, with more people working from home these days, having the Dogs Off-Leash area adjacent to residential homes has been problematic and has caused some conflict between commercial dog walkers and residents. The large groups of dogs driven in throughout the day intensify the noise in the area more than individuals walking their dogs.
We fully endorse the removal of commercial dog walkers’ access to Ramsden Park Dogs Off- Leash area.
Since its inception, the fenced in DOLA has had a lack of enforcement which compounds the issue. We also propose better enforcement.
Sincerely, David Bluestein
Ramsden Park Dog Owners Association
https://www.facebook.com/Ramsden-Park-Dog-Owners-Association-25585953315/
Letter from ABCRA
Toronto City Council
City Hall
100 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
June 24, 2024
Dear Toronto City Council,
RE: MM19.3 – Dogs Off Leash Area Criteria for Commercial Dog Walkers
The ABC Residents Association (“ABCRA”) is an incorporated volunteer body that has been serving the community since 1957. ABCRA represents the interests of residents in the area bounded by Yonge Street, Avenue Road, Bloor Street, and the CPR tracks.
We are writing in full support of Councillor’s Saxe’s request to close Ramsden Park to Commercial Dog Walkers, and to develop criteria for which DOLA’s are appropriate locations for Commerical Dog Walkers.
Residents near Ramsden Park have been asking for changes to the Ramsden DOLA since it was first installed. As the population of people and dogs increases in the area, so does the noise. The noise begins every morning before 6 a.m. It continues throughout the day and through the night, until after midnight. It persists through all seasons, rain or shine. It includes the slamming of the iron gates at the entrance as people escort their dogs to and from the area; the barking and squabbling of dogs in the area and the voices of owners and dog walkers talking to their dogs, to each other and on their mobile phones. Depending on where they stand in the area, their conversations are clearly audible to people in nearby houses.
Unlike similar facilities in downtown Toronto, Ramsden Park’s off-leash area for dogs is located within 20 metres or less of a residential neighbourhood. Because of an acoustical anomaly created by a row of berms on one side and a hill on the other, sound from the off-leash area is amplified. Other off-leash areas at Allan Gardens, for example, Earlscourt Park, High Park, the Brickworks, Sunnybrook Park, Cherry Beach and the Spadina Reservoir are, unlike Ramsden Park, located well away from residential neighbourhoods and well out of acoustical amphitheatres that magnify and project sound.
At the moment, we have no way of addressing the situation. We cannot expect dogs to stop barking or their owners to keep them quiet, but we are hopeful that a prohibition on commercial dog walkers will turn down the intensity of the noise at any one time.
We urge City Council to support this action.
Sincerely,
The ABC Residents Association, Ian Carmichael and John Caliendo,
Co-Chairs abcra@abc.ca
