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Lacey Parks staff report drop in off‑leash dogs, recommend continued education and renewed signage
Summary
Parks staff presented 2023–24 observational data showing off‑leash dog incidents fell from 20% to 12% among park dog users and recommended continuing an education-and-signage approach with a volunteer park‑watch program for ongoing monitoring.
Jenny Wilson, parks staff, told the Lacey Parks Board that follow‑up observations show fewer dogs off leash after a year of updated signs and outreach.
"In 2023, of all the park users that had dogs, 20% of them were off leash. In 2024, 12% were off leash," Wilson said, summarizing the board's observational counts and noting an 8 percentage‑point improvement in owner compliance.
Wilson said the city added new park rule signs, included messaging in the Lacey Life newsletter and social media, distributed flyers at a homeowners association meeting and placed targeted signs at hot‑spot parks. She said enforcement remains limited because Joint Animal Services lacks staff time for routine park patrols.
The data presented covered August 23 through Sept. 18 in both years with two‑hour observation shifts across weekdays, mornings, evenings and weekends. Staff and volunteers recorded off‑leash dogs per hour and incidents defined as dogs out of voice control. Wilson reported that nuisance interactions fell from nine in 2023 to five in 2024 and that one bite incident and several more serious nuisance reports were recorded in 2024.
Wilson recommended continuing the education and signage strategy and asked the board to confirm the direction. She described a possible park‑watch volunteer program to continue data collection: "There are park watch programs where volunteers enforce rules, although that's a little bit more complicated and not something that we're looking to consider at this time," she said, adding that volunteers could continue to observe and report trends.
Commissioners and attendees discussed complementary options, including offering leash‑training classes through the city's recreation program and refreshing sign photos seasonally to avoid message fatigue. Board members also noted that many off‑leash owners use low‑profile, fenced or secluded areas near fields and community centers rather than traveling to the off‑leash site at the Thurston County Waste and Recovery Center.
Board members did not direct staff to seek additional enforcement authority and acknowledged that ticketing would require a staffed enforcement arm. The board also heard that most observed off‑leash dogs were friendly rather than aggressive, but commissioners emphasized that friendly dogs can still create safety or annoyance problems for park users with reactive dogs.
Wilson said staff will continue the educational campaign, refresh signage in the spring, and explore a volunteer park‑watch model to keep monitoring compliance and inform next steps.
