Safe, secure facility for canines to frolic

NEWMAN - A weed-filled lot facing Sherman Park will soon be transformed into a dog park where man’s best friend(s) can safely frolic.

A small group of volunteers rolled up their sleeves and went to work Saturday to start clearing the lot of debris.....the first step in developing a dog park that has been the dream of a local woman for several years.

“You have no idea how full my heart is,” said Marlena Cardinal, founder of Friends for Sophia’s Dog Park, as she surveyed the scene. “I am so excited. I have been working on this for the past six years.”

While Cardinal and the non-profit organization have championed the dog park, it is moving forward as a community project.

The city is providing the land and will maintain the dog park once developed.

A local Boy Scout, Davis Freitas, has chosen the first phase of the dog park as his Eagle Scout project.

Classes from Orestimba High School, and the local 4-H club, are going to be involved in the park development.

Community work days will help shape the dog park, and community fund-raisers will help Friends for Sophia’s Dog Park raise the $40,000 needed to fully develop the facility.

The first phase, which is scheduled for completion this summer, may include little more than the basics - fencing, some trees, doggie drinking fountains and other essentials.

“My Eagle project is going to be getting the fence in and making this an operating dog park,” explained Freitas, a member of Boy Scout Troop 81 in Patterson.

Freitas said he learned about the dog park, contacted Cardinal and “fell in love” with the project.

Currently, Cardinal said, the dog park backers have about $5,000 to start the project.

A host of other amenities will be added as funds are raised, but by this summer the community should have an operational dog park (with a separate area set aside for small dogs).

The park will be a location where canine companions can safely exercise off-leash and socialize with other dogs. It will also have an educational component, Cardinal noted, as information promoting responsible pet ownership will be featured.

“That’s one of the things I am very excited about,” she explained. “It is going to be a true community park.”

Local veterinarian Suzanne Solvin was among the volunteers working at the site Saturday.

She praised the dog park development as beneficial for canines and their humans alike. Dog owners get great enjoyment out of seeing their dogs happily exercising and playing with other canines, she pointed out.

“This is going to promote health and happiness in the community,” Solvin commented. “This park is good for so many reasons. It is a wonderful thing.”

City Manager Michael Holland agreed.

“I think that in the long run, when the dog park is fully developed, it will be a great asset to the community,” he said Monday.

Friends for Sophia’s Dog Park is named in memory of Queen Sophia, a yellow lab owned by Cardinal. Queen Sophia was exercising in an open field when she found a hole in a fence and ran out in front of a vehicle which struck and killed her.

That 2004 tragedy underscored the need for a local park where dogs can safely roam off-leash, and led to Cardinal’s determined campaign for a dog park in the community.

Despite the years that have passed, Cardinal said, she remained confident that the dog park would become a reality.

Fund-raising for the park continues. Fund-raising information can be found on the Friends for Sophia’s Dog Park web site, www.dogparksrus.com.