ALABASTER, Ala. (AP) — It's a good time to be a dog if you're in the Birmingham, Ala., suburb of Alabaster.
A star of ABC-TV's "Modern Family" series, Eric Stonestreet, was in the Shelby County city on Thursday to help introduce a $500,000 dog park that opened at a city park.
The dog park was funded with a grant from Beneful dog food. It includes agility hoops; a path with tunnels; a field for playing fetch; water sprays for cooling off on hot days; and a wash station.
On Thursday, dogs ran around on the grass, chased after balls and slurped up water at a fountain.
"This park is just tremendous for the city of Alabaster," said Jenny Wilson, who won a design contest for the dog park. "It will bring pet owners and pets together. It just creates a wonderful community feel for pets to be celebrated and for pet owners to really form wonderful relationships with the (community) and with their pets. It's a wonderful gift."
The canine attraction was built on a section of the 90-acre Veteran's Park in Alabaster.
DIY network's "Desperate Landscapes" will air an episode shot at the new dog park.
The Emmy Award-winning Stonestreet has a dog of his own, a 12-year-old rescue animal named Coleman Hawkins.