Dog Park Dreams Alive and Well in Southwest Boston

The search for an area to put a dog park continues. The park would serve West Roxbury, Roslindale, Hyde Park and Jamaica Plain.

  A couple of months back you may remember West Roxbury's District Councilor Matt O'Malley calling a meeting about building a dog park in our area, specifically at Millennium Park. But maybe that's the last you heard about it. In fact, the meetings continue and a small group of dedicated people have formed a non-profit organization called the Dog Park Association of SouthWest Boston, Inc. We have been meeting regularly to find an alternative spot where a fenced-in doggy play area can be built. We are looking for a place that would serve West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, and Roslindale. Millennium Park was taken off the table because, between the cap of the landfill and the surrounding wetlands, there was no place to put the park. The…

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TD Pledges Votes to Gormley! Nominees Cry Foul!

Tom "TD" Dougherty throws savvy social media team behind the Undertaker. West Roxbury Civic Improvement Association President Olivia Waishek demands investigation. And is Tony Saroufim building a Millennium Park castle??

  What started off as a fun poll has turned into a very serious debate with lives (not quite) at stake. So who is the unofficial mayor of West Roxbury? Centre, Spring and even little streets like Bonair, are debating: TD vs. Tony, Gormley vs. Jacobson, and Waishek vs. Hennessey. As the debate swirls like the stir of a cup of Anna's Donuts coffee, reports of thuggery have already besieged the good names of the nominees. One anonymous West Roxbury Patch reader emailed an incident that may or may not have occured. Fearing for his or her morning coffee, the reader will not be identified: This whole thing is like the "Arab Spring" but with more freckles and a bit of Irish step dancing thrown in. Some burly guy with a Scally Cap and a union pin …

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Video: Dog Rescued from Millennium Park Storm Drain

A dog wandered into a storm drain and was unable to come out on its own.

Challenges Await West Roxbury Dog Park Initiative, but Friends Group Will Form

City officials explained challenges and options at Monday night meeting.

Dog owners who frequent Millennium Park heard about the challenges awaiting them last night as they continue working towards a dog park on the grounds of the park built upon a landfill. That, however, did not stop the process from moving forward; the next meeting will see the formation of a Friends Group that will push for both a fenced-in, non-turf dog park, as well as designated off-leash hours at Millennium. “This isn’t a hopeless cause,” said District 6 City Councilor Matt O’Malley, who hosted the third dog park meeting last night at the Roche Community Center. “…But it’s going to take an aggressive route to do this.” The formation of a Friends Group is the first step in what could be a very complicated process, the meeting’s attendees…

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POLLS: Cats, Dogs, Millennium Park and Litterboxes

Community meeting about to discuss proposed dog park and options at Millennium Park is on Monday night at Roche Family Community Center.

On Monday night the conversation about the proposed dog park at Millennium Park will continue at 6:30 p.m. at the Roche Family Community Center. West Roxbury District Councilor, and admitted dog lover, Matt O'Malley will continue to lead the community conversation. O'Malley first raised the idea of having a dog park several months ago, and fostered the discussion on Woof Roxbury's Facebook page. From meetings it appears there are two desires: one to have a fenced-in dog area; and a second desire is to have some type of off-leash component, such as an off-leash area, off-leash hours, and some people would like the entire park to be off-leash. But what about the cats of West Roxbury? Below are three polls involving cats and dogs. The first …

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The Charles River Goes From Toxic Stream to Award-Winningly Clean

Charles River, Boston’s iconic landmark wins the International Riverprize.

The Charles River, once considered an open sewer, has turned around to such a degree that the group largely responsible for its clean-up just won the largest environmental prize in the world. The Charles River Watershed Association bested projects from more than 20 countries to snag the 2011 International Riverprize, the prestigious environmental award for maintenance and sustainable implementation in river management, in Brisbane, Australia, Sept. 27. Along with the award came a cash check for $250,000 and a $100,000 grant to share its river restoration expertise with a river organization in another country. "The CRWA will use the prize money to invest in our major programs: Blue Cities and Blue Cities Exchange, dealing with remediating …

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Woman Alleges Two Large Unleashed Dogs Crushed Her Against Millennium Park Fence

Retired teacher said she was walking in park when dogs cornered her and jumped on her.

While the discussion about having a dog park and off-leash hours at Millennium Park continue, there continue to be problems with unleashed dogs. On Sept. 30 a retired teacher walked into District E-5 to report that around 7:20 a.m. on that day she was accosted by two unleashed large dogs. The woman said she was walking along Millennium Park's middle level on the south side, when an unknown woman was walking her two large dogs unleashed. The woman told police the two dogs cornered her into the fence, and one of the dogs jumped onto the woman. The woman said she was not injured, but that she was very shaken up, and felt very unsafe at the time. The woman told police that the owner of the dog had no control over the dogs and offered no …

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O'Malley, Dog Park Discussion Highlight Discussion at Light WRNC Meeting

With little on the agenda, District 6 City Councilor Matt O'Malley spoke to the West Roxbury Neighborhood Council about his initiatives, with specific emphasis on the process to establish a dog park at Millennium Park.

District 6 City Councilor Matt O'Malley said he didn't expect to speak at last night's West Roxbury Neighborhood Council meeting at the District E-5 Police Department. With the meeting's near entire agenda wiped out by scheduling conflicts, however, O'Malley took advantage of the opportunity to discuss his current projects and initiatives, specifically focusing on the proposed dog park at Millennium Park. Asked when a potential park could be expected, O'Malley said that things could move quickly, but the community needs to reach an agreement as to how a dog park would operate. "There's some signs for next year," he said, "but a lot needs to happen before we get there." At last week's meeting, said O'Malley, interested neighbors showed "a …

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Proposed Millenium Dog Park Draws Strong Opinions and Further Discussion

The local community is in support of West Roxbury's of proposed dog park at Millennium Park, but there's still no consensus on what dog park will be.

Wednesday night’s meeting was a step in the right direction, but not a homerun for West Roxbury District Councilor Matt O’Malley or dog lovers of the community. The discussion around developing a potential dog park at Millennium Park continued at West Roxbury’s Roche Family Community Center. The well attended meeting was hosted by O’Malley as a follow up to his August 11 meeting, where he first introduced the idea. O’Malley set the tone of the discussion before moderating an array of varied opinions. He acknowledged that two conversations bred at the last meeting – the desire for a dog park at Millennium and off leash hours. “I came to this thinking wouldn’t it be great for someone who has grown up around dogs to have a dog park in West …

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MP

12:56 pm on Saturday, October 8, 2011

As I saw it, there were two definite opinions, and Matt O'Malley tried hard to stay out of it. There were those currently breaking the law and wanting an off leash area, and there were those wanting a fenced in dog park, which is what the meeting was supposed to be about.   more ›

Dog Park Dialogue Will Continue at Wednesday Night Meeting, Says O'Malley

Original plans called for the establishment of a friends group at Wednesday meeting, but District 6 Councilor envisions greater consensus before those steps are taken.

Original plans for District 6 City Councilor Matt O'Malley's second neighborhood dog park meeting called for the establishment of a "friends group," complete with an elected board, to help create and eventually manage the proposed dog run at Millennium Park. But still without a clear consensus on how to approach the issue and with several differences in opinion expressed at the first meeting in August, O'Malley has decided to hold off on elections just yet. Instead, he said, the neighborhood needs to first develop a consensus of just how they want to let their dogs legally off-leash at Millennium Park. "I'd rather we take the process slow and do it right," O'Malley said. Wednesday night's 6:30 p.m. meeting at the Roche Communuty Center …

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