EDITORIALS : To The Dogs
Posted on Monday, May 5, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/Editorial/61508/
Dog parks are safe places to let your dog be a dog. ” Those words — spoken by Teresa Robinson, one of hundreds of dog lovers in attendance at Saturday’s Bentonville Dog Walk — sound like the makings of a pretty special place to us.
Dog parks like the one planned for the Bentonville — which the Dog Walk was held to benefit — are places where man’s best friend is free to be himself.
Released from the confines of his master’s home or yard, he’s able to do — well, most — of the things dogs delight in doing. He’s free to have a good time, maybe the time of his life, in the company of fellow canines, all under the watchful eyes of dog owners pleased to see their four-legged friends so happy.
A place where a dog can be a dog. From the perspective of a dog or dog owner, what could be better than that ?
Not much, if the turnout for Saturday’s Dog Walk was any indication. Almost 500 people from Bentonville and surrounding communities, canines in tow, showed up for the event, which was held near the entrance to the Northern Bentonville Trail and the Slaughter Penn Hollow Mountain Bike Trail. This recreational hotspot is also the proposed site of the Bentonville Bark Park.
The humans in attendance did more than walk their dogs — many of them also walked the walk. Donations were taken to build upon the $ 40, 000 that’s already been raised for construction of the Bark Park, which the city has agreed to maintain once its completed.
The park can be built in phases, but to see it realized fully is going to require in the neighborhood of $ 300, 000.
Saturday was a big step in the right direction. If nothing else, the Bentonville Dog Walk put to rest any uncertainty about how popular the Bark Park will be once it’s up and running. It’s obvious that day can’t arrive soon enough for the area’s dogs and dog lovers.
It should come as no surprise. A place where a dog can be a dog ? That’s One Great Thing in our book.