Citing garbage, insurance issues, SpokAnimal hands off operation of High Bridge Dog Park after 13 years

After 13 years managing the City of Spokane’s first dog park, local nonprofit SpokAnimal told city officials in early November that it could no longer afford to operate High Bridge Dog Park.

SpokAnimal had been paying for trash collection, water service and maintenance at the 9.3-acre dog park west of Browne’s Addition since its inception in December 2010. It was a $40,000 donation from the nonprofit that made the fenced park where dogs can run off leash possible.

The nonprofit also manages an animal shelter, pet food bank and other services. It was contracted as the city’s animal control service at the time of the dog park’s creation, but couldn’t afford to manage increasing levels of garbage being left at the park, said Dori Peck, executive director of SpokAnimal.

“We decided that managing the dog park isn’t feasible for us anymore,” Peck said. “We can’t keep up with the garbage, and we have a new insurance company, and dog parks aren’t the favorites of insurance companies, because we don’t control who goes there, but we’re responsible.”

Much of the garbage seemed to come from homeless people that frequented the park, Peck said. She added that the city attempted to be responsive to the issue. Operating the park cost SpokAnimal between $4,500 and $5,000 per year, and the nonprofit struggled to organize a consistent volunteer crew to assist with garbage cleanup, Peck said.

Operations of the park have been assumed by the city, said Fianna Dickson, spokeswoman for the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department.

“They’ve been a wonderful partner,” Dickson said. “We can certainly understand the challenges with maintaining the dog park, but we’re able to wrap this into our maintenance fold so SpokAnimal can focus on their key priorities.”

Dickson noted that increased litter has been seen across the park system.

The High Bridge Dog Park is still expected to be the beneficiary of major investments.

A yearslong saga to create a new large off-leash park to replace one displaced by construction of a new South Hill middle school fizzled in the face of neighborhood opposition, with the Spokane Park Board voting unanimously in July to abandon plans for a facility off Upriver Drive. The city signaled it would instead use money provided by Spokane Public Schools to improve an existing dog park in High Bridge Park, near the confluence of Latah Creek and the Spokane River.

Park officials told board members at the time that improving an existing park was preferable to trying to find a new site to which neighbors wouldn’t object.

“(High Bridge) would serve as a community-wide destination where people would be willing to drive a bit of a distance to get there,” Dickson said.