Dogs are now welcome at more Sheboygan parks and a beach as the city looks to be more pet-friendly
SHEBOYGAN - Most city parks are off limits to dogs and other pets.
But in an ongoing effort to make Sheboygan more pet-friendly, the city council passed a resolution last week to allow leashed pets at Evergreen Park, Jaycee Park to Mill Road along the Pigeon River Corridor, and Southshore Beach from Indiana Avenue to Clara Avenue.
The city also plans to construct fenced-in dog parks at some historically underutilized parks.
The changes come as a result of feedback from residents in a city survey. Survey respondents wanted more pet-friendly public spaces.
Dogs and other pets are also allowed on-leash at Lakeview Park, North Point Park and Overlook, Greenwing Drive Retention Ponds and Camelot Dog Run.
Dogs are allowed off-leash at the Sheboygan and town of Wilson Dog Run, Pigeon River Parkway (more than 100 acres east of the town of Sheboygan’s Pigeon River Park) and on the beach at Lake View Park.
The Humane Society of Sheboygan County's 3.5-acre community dog park under construction is scheduled to open next year on North 21st Street. The dog park will be free and open to the public 24 hours a day. It will be fenced in, include lit walking trails, a pond, agility equipment and more, according to the society.
More: See a map of dog-friendly areas in Sheboygan
Outside of Sheboygan, on-leash pets are allowed in some areas of Kohler-Andrae State Park, including the Black River Hiking Trails and north beach, and on many trails at Kettle Moraine State Park, including the Ice Age Trail.
City of Sheboygan increased the number of dog-friendly parks as a result of community feedback
In a community-wide survey administered by Sheboygan’s Pet-Friendly Task Force, people requested that the city open a number of parks to dogs and other pets.
The city is starting "with a very scaled-down version of what was requested," Parks Superintendent Joe Kerlin said.
“This is a starting point,” he said. “We’ll start small and see how things go, and then we can go from there.”
Although dogs are allowed at the Lake View Park beach, the beach has been underwater in the past few years because of high Lake Michigan water levels.
That is one reason the city will now allow pets at Southshore Beach, Kerlin said.
It will be a welcome change for Sheboygan resident Renee Karas and her boyfriend, who have two water-loving dogs, she said.
“When we've had some really hot weather, we've carried them — you know, one an 80-pound boxer — across the rocks (at Lake View Park), but it's slippery and it's dangerous,” she said. “When it’s a hot, humid day in Sheboygan, you want your dogs to have a little bit of fun and get some exercise and relief, but there’s no place to take them. That has always been our biggest issue.”
A downtown Sheboygan dog park is coming soon. Others will likely follow.
Sheboygan’s Department of Public Works is developing a plan to transition small areas in parks such as Kiwanis, Moose and Cleveland parks into fenced, off-leash dog parks.
“These are going to be small,” Kerlin said. “It’s basically an area in the city where people can socialize and let their dog off-leash, but it’s not going to be the whole park, it’s going to be a contained, fenced-in area.”
The former Social Security building lot on Ninth Street and Center Avenue is already on track to be turned into a fenced-in dog park with a parking area in the near future, Kerlin said.
It will take longer to find funding for fencing at other parks, he said.
Sheboygan is committed to becoming a pet-friendly community, mayor says
In July, Sheboygan became the first — and only — city in Wisconsin to earn a Pet-Friendly Certification from Mars Petcare, showing the city is committed to creating a pet-friendly community.
There’s still more work to be done.
Sherry Helmer, who has run the Sheboygan Dog Walking and Pet Sitting Service for the past 16 years, said the biggest challenge she encounters while walking around town is when other people have their dogs running loose in their yard or neighborhood.
“There should be more dog-friendly parks, really, but I get it when people don’t pick up after them,” she said. “I mean, the last thing you want to do is take your child to the park and the child steps in dog poop that somebody didn't clean up.”
Ashley Moore, owner of Sheboygan's Punky Pets Grooming, said it is fairly easy to walk her dogs in her neighborhood south of downtown, but it would be nice if more restaurants allowed pets or established an area for people to have their pets.
“That way, we could go out to eat and then go hike or do other things, and we don’t have to go back home to get the dogs. And we like to have them with us,” she said.
The GameBoard, 3 Sheeps Brewing and Der Sheboygan Biergarten are a few Sheboygan businesses that do allow leashed pets.
People also say it is hard to tell where pets are and are not allowed in Sheboygan.
The city plans to install signs in all of its 36 parks that say whether pets are allowed in the park, using a $20,000 BETTER CITIES FOR PETS grant Mars Petcare awarded to Sheboygan last year.
The grant money will also be used to install pet waste stations in each pet-friendly park, install pet water fountains at two parks and create a page on the city’s website about pet-related information and resources, according to the mayor’s office.
“Every Sheboygan resident deserves options to get outdoors with their furry companions,” Mayor Ryan Sorenson said in a news release. “Having an adequate number of parks and green spaces open to pets and their humans is vital, especially for apartment dwellers and those without a private outdoor area."
The mayor added, "The BETTER CITIES FOR PETS grant will allow the city to begin to tackle these issues through initiatives that would have otherwise been out of reach"
Reach Maya Hilty at 920-400-7485 or MHilty@sheboygan.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @maya_hilty.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan opens more city parks to pets, looks to build dog parks
