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Plans for the future Belmont County Dog Park underway

T-L Photo/CARRI GRAHAM Belmont County officials and members of the Road Home Animal Project, partners of the future Belmont County Dog Park, stand where the park will be in the area behind the Belmont County Health Department west of St. Clairsville. Pictured from left are jail Administrator Stanley Galownia, Road Home board members Madae Lewis, Dana Goletz and President Chris Shriver, Deputy Jennifer Yuhase with certified therapy dog Jersey; Commissioner Jerry Echemann, Nathan Galownia or BCSO’s Explorer program, Sheriff David Lucas with dog Loki, Commissioner Josh Meyer and Sherri VanTassel, outreach coordinator for the BCSO, with the outreach mascot, Veta.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Pups, and their humans, eventually will have a place to run freely and socialize as county officials partner with a local nonprofit to get a new dog park project underway.

Belmont County commissioners, Sheriff David Lucas and The Road Home Animal Project have joined forces to work toward making the Belmont County Dog Park come to fruition. Park organizers gathered with some of their furry companions at the future park site Thursday, and announced that they are making progress.

The dog park will be located at 68475 Bannock Road in St. Clairsville, just behind the Belmont County Health Department.

Lucas, who was there with his sidekick and unofficial sheriff’s office mascot, Loki, is spearheading the project. The idea for a dog park in the county came about during his travels with Loki to dog parks in other states. Lucas said he brought the idea to the Belmont County Board of Commissioners, who were supportive of the idea from the start, and then partnered with the Road Home, which is providing nonprofit support for the project.

“Right now we’re at the verge of it. … You look at the sheriff’s office alone, we have three road K-9s and then we have our therapy dog, Deputy Jennifer Yuhase has Jersey. Everybody knows Jersey. Then I have my personal dog, Loki, so we all love our dogs,” he said.

Lucas said the project is completely reliant upon donations and grant funds, and will not cost taxpayers any money.

“We’re going to raise the money and put in the dog park. We’ll have two parts — one for the small dogs and one for the larger dogs. We’ll make sure we do everything right,” he said. “Each side of the dog park will be roughly 150 feet wide and close to 300 feet long.”

The project is estimated to cost around $90,000. Fencing will be installed around the parcel of land that will feature water areas, pavilions and benches.

“That’s one thing we’re looking at where people can donate a bench in memory of their pet or loved one. So we’re just getting it off the ground and we’re looking at the support of our community and businesses is what’s going to make this happen,” he said.

Lucas said the dog park will be beneficial for dog owners by allowing for a place to bring dogs for exercise and socialization.

“I’m not only doing it for the love of animals but this is something myself, the county and the Road (Home Animal Project) can give back to the community where our residents can use on a daily basis to take their pet and let them run and associate with other animals. I’m excited about this,” he said.

“This is a place where they can exercise their dog. They can come here and exercise their dog and socialize their dog with other dogs, and that’s very important. The dog park in Wheeling, I’ve visited it several times just to observe and it’s unbelievable how many people use that dog park.”

Lucas said the timeframe for the project depends on the support of the community. He said he is hoping to have it complete by next summer.

“The sooner we raise the money, it will happen,” he said.

Commissioner Josh Meyer said the county donated the space for the park. Commissioners allocated around 2 acres of land for the project.

“We talked about a couple different spots and all settled on this area, and that’s part of our plan. Anything we can do to help it, we’ll do. … It’s a small park. They’re doing a lot of the work and Sherri (VanTassel) and the Road Home Animal Project, they’ve done a lot of work on this project. We’re excited about it. We’re happy the sheriff brought the idea to us and we think it’ll be a good thing here for the county,” he said.

VanTassel, outreach coordinator for the BCSO, has been working on a number of grant applications for funding the project. She said she believes the dog park will be a great addition for the county and its residents, as well as for those passing through, to exercise their dogs off leash.

“The research I did for the grants is people actually get more exercise when they bring their dogs to dog parks than if they’re just walking them because when you’re in a safe, enclosed area you can play things like throw the ball and such that you might not be able to do in your own yard,” she said, adding that exercise can help decrease aggression in dogs.

“When dogs are cooped up for long periods of time they can develop destructive behaviors and end up abandoned or surrendered. My goal is to try to eliminate some of those issues and give people the chance to socialize.”

VanTassel said they received a support letter for a grant application from a 70-year-old who emphasized her excitement to not only have a place to walk her dog off leash, but also give her a chance to socialize with people.

“She said many of her friends have passed so the chance to meet other dog lovers and dog owners and form their own social group was important to her, so I think there’s a benefit across the board. When you think there are almost 7,500 dog licenses issued in Belmont County and research shows about 30% of the people in the county, in any county, don’t buy dog licenses so you’ve got over 64,000 people. Take 30% of that on top of the 7,500 that have licenses, that’s a lot of dogs,” she said.

Chris Shriver, president of the Road Home Animal Project, said the project ties into the mission of the nonprofit organization.

“We encourage people to socialize their dogs. It makes for a less destructive dog – a tired dog is a good dog. There’s less chance of a dog going to a shelter, being abandoned because they cannot control it. This (park) lets them socialize, spend some time running and it’s good for the owners, too, especially if you have senior citizens or disabled people. It gives them a place to bring their dog and let them go and run rather than being tied on a chain because they’re unable to walk them,” she said.

The nonprofit serves Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania and has a mission to help animals in need. It works to facilitate adoptions and fostering arrangements, among other efforts.

Those interested in donating to the dog park can mail checks to the RHAP at P.O. Box 522, St. Clairsville. In the memo line of the check, indicated that the project is for the “Belmont County Dog Park.”

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