Dog-O-Ween!

In the early 1990s, local citizens identified the need for sites in Seattle where people could interact with their dogs in an off-leash environment. After six years involving numerous public meetings, petitions and a three-year pilot program, the Seattle City Council voted 9-0 to establish permanent dog off-leash areas with a process in place to create new areas over time. Currently there are eight off-leash areas in Seattle, with two more being planned.

Citizens for Off-Leash Areas (COLA) was formed in February 1995 as an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to work with the city and create long-term stability for the off-leash area program. In 1997, COLA entered into a formal agreement with the City of Seattle to share the responsibility of maintaining current off-leash sites and creating new ones.

Since 1997, COLA has grown to become a primary point of contact for public officials, media, community groups, dog owners and even cities across the country regarding off-leash and other dog-related issues. Please visit the COLA Website for more information.

Fundraising Purpose & Objectives
Seattle is growing rapidly, and with it, our dog population. At the same time city departments such as Parks and Recreation are drastically cutting budgets. These events place increasingly large financial burdens on COLA. Examples of the kinds of projects that COLA has recently helped fund include new fences around the Golden Gardens ($14,650) and Woodland Park ($12,950) off-leash areas, purchase of tool storage boxes for each OLA ($3,885), purchase of chain-link fencing to complete the enclosure at Blue Dog Pond ($4,600), purchase of plastic poop-disposal bags for the Magnuson OLA ($1,000) and other routine maintenance concerns that over the past year has totaled over $10,000.

Goals for 2006
Continuing improvements are critical to the success of our off-leash program. Parks does not have the budget to fund these projects, so it is up to COLA to raise the money. Here are only some of the projects currently being planned for 2006:

• Double-gated entires at the Blue Dog-Pond OLA, to replace the dangerous single-gated entries. We are also working with Parks to improve safety by building staircases on the hillside.
  Estimated Cost: $5,000
• Improve water access at the Westcrest Park OLA. Currently there is a series of connected hoses stretching hundreds of feet to get water to the main play field
  Estimated Cost: $7,000
• Retaining walls on the north slope of the hill at Woodland Park OLA, which is steadily eroding and threatening the safety and stability of the hill.
• New, improved bags and dispensers at all the off-leash areas.