ORANGE — Due to a couple of incidents in as many weeks, the North Quabbin Dog Park’s president has closed the space until spring, a move that has angered local dog owners.
Jade Bailey said she made the decision on Nov. 4, two days after a dog escaped from its owner’s yard on Daniels Shays Highway and ran to the park at 80 Airport St., where it attacked two dogs and injured a woman trying to separate the animals. This followed an Oct. 22 incident in which a woman reportedly hooked a car to the park’s main gatepost and used the vehicle to pull it out of the ground. Bailey also said people routinely break rules against smoking, having shock collars on dogs and bringing unfixed dogs to the park.
“Enough is enough,” Bailey said on Friday, adding that she hopes the volunteer-run, donation-driven park’s temporary closure is an “eye-opener to people that are not following the rules.”
She announced the closure on the North Quabbin Dog Park’s Facebook page. Bailey, who lives in Athol and has three dogs, said her decision was a difficult one to make.
“I did not want the backlash,” she said. “I had to act.”
But Orange resident Julie Britt, who is on the park’s committee, believes Bailey overstepped her authority when she closed the facility. She said she was not present when the dog escaped from the yard but she is familiar with the animal, which she said is friendly “if he is in there alone,” though it bit her son two or three years ago. Britt said the dog’s owner always retrieves the animal within five minutes after it escapes.
The park, which Britt said was established eight years ago, sits on Orange Municipal Airport property and is typically open all year except for two days when it is closed for maintenance. Britt, who said she has one dog of her own and cares for another five days a week, said she and many other dog owners bring their canines to the park every day regardless of weather “because our dogs need that exercise.” She and other owners are now scrabbling to find alternatives for the dogs.
Orange Police Chief James Sullivan said someone is telling people his department ordered the park’s closure, but he said this is untrue. Also, Jane Peirce, chair of the Selectboard, said no one from the town asked or told Bailey to close the park.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-930-4120.