Dog owners held a mass rally in Kilcona Park on Saturday afternoon in support of more space for their four-legged friends.
For years dog owners have allowed their pets to roam freely in the park despite a city established off-leash area. After a number of recent complaints the city has started to enforce the boundaries.
Wayne Lesperance has been walking his dog in the park for more than ten years and says he's never heard of a serious incident involving an off-leash pet.
"It's a small percentage of the ball players who are complaining about a small percentage of the dog owners," he said.
Organizers of the rally say area dog walkers have outgrown the limited off-leash area and want to see it officially expanded.
A petition is circulating within the dog walking community with close to 800 signatures already collected.
City councillor Jeff Browaty says the city is considering making improvements to the park and expanding the area.
"Because they are the majority users of this park it only makes sense to take a look again to see what the actual boundaries are," said Browaty.
The group's petition will be taken to a committee meeting next month and a city council decision on expanding the park could be made as early as November.
"We're not trying to say kick everyone else out, we've never said that, there's more than enough space for all of us and if everybody uses common courtesy then we can all get along," added Lesperance.
