Vancouver dog owners frustrated with proposed changes at Pacific Spirit Park

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“It would effectively cut the existing off-leash options in Pacific Spirit Regional Park by half,” explained Fred Lee, Vancouver resident and frequent visitor to the park with his sheepadoodle Hunter.

“These changes unfairly penalize responsible dog owners who use the park as intended—ensuring their pets get proper exercise while maintaining control and respect for other visitors and users of the park. The argument for increasing leash-required areas is largely based on isolated incidents involving uncontrolled or aggressive dogs.”

One such incident happened to Annie Cierna, a UBC assistant professor who shared her story at the Regional Parks Committee meeting earlier this month.

“In 2023, I was running through Pacific Spirit… and a dog was off-leash, running around uncontrolled on the trail,” she said in a video recording of the meeting. “The dog charged me, broke my leg, and permanently damaged my knee.

“I have now gone through two rounds of crutches, knee surgery, and many, many hours of physical therapy to be able to be back even walking here today. And so I’m here today to talk about some potential options to making some changes.

Cierna’s presentation was made alongside Jen McCutcheon, the regional district’s Elected Director, who helped formulate her plan. It explained how the region’s busiest park was also one of the more confusing ones for following dog-leash rules.

“This is a picture of the current park trail system…,” said Cierna during the meeting. “What you can see right away is a complete mish-mash of trails, where some trails go from leash-optional to leash-required and back to leash-optional again. And actually, the trail where I had my accident was one of those trails.”

Lee feels that issues stem from irresponsible ownership, not from the concept of off-leash trails itself.

“Punishing the vast majority of responsible dog owners for the actions of a few is unjust. While some park users claim the mix of leash-required and leash-optional trails is ‘confusing,’ responsible dog owners along with most walkers, joggers, cyclists and mountain biker have successfully navigated this system for years. 

“Better signage, education and enforcement could address issues without eliminating off-leash access to half the park.”

An online petition urging the regional district to make its decision based on the input of all park users has garnered thousands of signatures.

“This is ridiculous,” said a signee. “There is already a massive shortage of places for people to take their dogs for some off leash play. If people don’t want to be around dogs go to the other 99 percent of park space where dogs aren’t allowed.”

Metro Vancouver shared that it has received a lot of feedback on this topic from many perspectives and is taking it all into consideration as part of the review. Members of the public are also encouraged to share their thoughts by emailing icentre@metrovancouver.org.

“These types of reviews take place regularly within regional parks to ensure parks are safe and accessible to everyone, and this review at Pacific Spirit has been in the works for several months,” said Wallis. “This process is still in the information-gathering stage and there has been no proposal from Metro Vancouver for any changes to the park. Staff are reviewing trail signs, trail designations, public education and bylaw enforcement to improve visitor experience and safety.

“The goal of the review is to ensure that Pacific Spirit is a safe and welcoming space for all park users. Once the pilot project, the details of which have not yet been determined, is in place, it will be monitored through 2025. Following that period, it will be evaluated and adjustments will be made as needed.”

Lee hopes that Metro Vancouver Regional District reconsiders the scope of the restrictions and instead works on a more balanced approach for the 90-hectare park.

“This should include meaningful consultation with the community, an evaluation of the impact on responsible dog owners, and an emphasis on enforcing current rules rather than imposing broad, restrictive and punitive changes. In my opinion, none of this has happened. 

“Pacific Spirit Park has long been a haven for responsible dog owners, fostering a sense of community and promoting healthy, active lifestyles for both pets and people. If changes must be made, they should be based on data and actual problem areas, not a blanket reduction of off-leash spaces. We would like to see data that support these changes.”