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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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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Community Support for West Roxbury Dog Park Evident by Standing-Room-Only Meeting

West Roxbury District Councilor Matt O'Malley is proposing creating a dog park at Millennium Park.

In a jam-packed meeting, West Roxbury District Councilor Matt O’Malley proposed having a dog park at Millennium Park to dog lovers last night. Before getting started O’Malley asked the audience to raise their hands if they were dog owners, and practically the whole room did. The same seemed to occur when the councilor asked who was in support of a dog park. There were no dogs in attendance. “I can’t think of anything more that shows public interest (for a dog park),” said O’Malley, adding that the next meeting is going to need a larger space to hold the audience. The intent of the meeting was to let residents know about the process to create a dog park. Before a very spirited question-and-answer session, O’Malley, a dog lover himself, …

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DJ Grace

3:58 pm on Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Thanks for giving me a summation. I've heard similar things from folks. One thing that stood out to me was that Matt did not seem to actually know how MP is laid out and what it's like being there. And the idea of 100 feet by 100 ft for a dog park is pretty insane given that there's 105 acres at MP and there are so many dogs and dog people. I think Matt is very well intentioned but I don't think …   more ›

Patch Facts

5 Things You Need to Know Today: August 11

A meeting tonight at the District E-5 Police Station to discuss having a dog park in West Roxbury.

"Five Things You Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance. Check back later for more, and let us know what you think of the five things in the comments section.

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Patch Facts

5 Things You Need to Know Today: August 10

A dog park meeting, tales from around the world at the West Roxbury Library - and who wants to learn about collecting and preserving insects?

"Five Things You Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance. Check back later for more, and let us know what you think of the five things in the comments section.

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Preview: Meeting About Possible Dog Park in West Roxbury on Thursday

West Roxbury District Councilor Matt O'Malley is leading open meeting at police station at 7 p.m.

West Roxbury District Councilor Matt O'Malley sat down with West Roxbury Patch to discuss this Thursday's meeting at the District E-5 Police Station at 7 p.m. about the possibility of having a dog park in West Roxbury. O'Malley was joined by his family dogs, Stanley, an 11-year-old springer spaniel, and Abby, a 10-year-old cocker spaniel. Two very adorable dogs.  Q: What is the purpose of this Thursday’s meeting? When and where is it taking place? O'Malley: The West Roxbury Police station at 7 p.m. We've had about 60 to 65 RSVPs. I’m really excited about this, I think we’re going to have a packed house. Everyone has been interested, I haven’t heard one dissident on this whole thing, which is an interesting thing because there’s never a …

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