This petition, plus written signatures, will be presented to the Austin City Council. Please login from Austin based computers. Do NOT sign if you live outside of Austin. Thank you!!

KVUE News coverage of the issue:javascript:nicTemp();

Auditorium Shores is Austin's largest and best leash free dog parks. Since it's located in the heart of the City, this makes it easy access for the numerous residents that have moved to the downtown area as part of Austin's Redevelopment Plan. Other dog owners that live further away also love coming here. The wide expanses of lawn and the long stretch of waterfront access (with various degrees of accessibilities to accomodate dogs of different ages and size) make this a joyous place for both dogs and their owners to socialize and relax.

The Austin Parks Department has presented a plan that will reduce the size of the leash free area (down to 3.2 acres), relocate it to the spot that is furthest from the parking lot and give dogs limited access to water that includes an outlet pipe full of slime. The result will be unsanitary water conditions for the dogs, an unsafe concentration of dogs and illegal access from the parking lot (due to the distance for handicap users and because dog owners would have to cross a no dog zone to access the leash free zone).

The Parks Department claims the plan reduces the occasional conflict with joggers and hikers. We favor a better design that retains the current leash free area, but loops a jogging trail around the area where most of the dogs congregate: from the Congress Avenue parking lot to the Stevie Ray Vaughan Statue. In other words, move the path, not the dogs. The trail users have access to miles of unhampered trails. Surely they can be re-routed to accomodate a less than 300' stretch of happy dogs.