A group of 20 dog owners and their families gathered at the Scotts Valley Dog Park last week to mend fences, pull weeds and generally spruce up Scotts Valley’s 1.2-acre haven for dogs.
Recently, broken toys and chairs had littered the park, the shade cover for hot days was peeled back and foxtails left half of the small-dog side of the park unusable, because the seedlings often stuck in the dogs’ noses.
A group led by veterinarian technician Dayna Bisaillon of Boulder Creek mended the fence, cleared out rubbish, repaired the shelter with donated tarps and weed-whacked the field of foxtails.
“It was small-dog people coming together with big-dog people and making the park better,” Bisaillon said with a smile. “This was not easy to do, because small-dog people are small-dog people and big-dog people are big-dog people.”
Scotts Valley Recreation division manager Conrad Sudduth said Scotts Valley’s short-staffed park crew empties the trash, adds new wood chips and keeps up on major weeding that the park, but it needs help to keep the amenities intact.
“For me, most important is that we have another group that takes care of the dog park,” Sudduth said. “It’s an indication of where the park is right now and where it is going.”
Bisaillon, whose husband operates a contracting business in Boulder Creek, arranged for Davey Tree Service to donate a load of wood chips this week and organized the cleanup day among people who regularly visit the park.
She posted notices on the park’s bulletin board and spread the word whenever she stopped by.
Many, including Scotts Valley’s Mike Lisle, who owns Gracie, a Chihuahua-beagle-Jack Russell terrier mix, were happy to help, because they use the park so often.
“Any dog owner who wants to get their dog socialized, this is the place to go,” he said, noting how strong the community is at the park. “Everybody knows your name. It’s like ‘Cheers’ without the booze.”
