Barrie resident Jennifer Graham and her two-and-a-half-year-old rescue dog, Gordie, love being together.
They enjoy being out on a walk on local trails or on the paddle board at the family cottage — and, like most, they also enjoy cooling off with a quick dip in the water after.
There is just one problem: There is nowhere in the city dog owners can legally go with their furry friends where they can run off leash on the beach and frolic in the water.
That’s why Graham, who lives in the south end of Barrie, has launched an online petition in an effort to get city officials to consider creating an off-leash beach for residents where they can take their dogs safely and without consequences.
Graham has previously taken Gordie to the off-leash beaches in Innisfil and Wasaga Beach, as well as areas in Springwater, all of which she said appear to be popular.
“I have to go outside of the Barrie area to find a decent water park area where he can go to cool down. My grandparents live on Kempenfelt Bay and we love to walk around there, but I’ve noticed there are no spots for dogs to go in and cool down,” she said. “I see people trying to sneak them onto a little corner of the beach, and security is always trying to get rid of them.”
Graham thinks the city needs to become more “dog friendly.”
“I don’t know why we aren’t adapting to people with pets, especially since the waterfront is quite vast,” she said. “A lot of patios, you can bring your dog to, so it would just be a great, easy day trip for people to go to downtown Barrie, hit a patio, take the dog for a walk and then let them take a dip at the beach without any concerns or issues — and away from the general (public) beach area.”
At the time of publication, Graham’s petition had garnered 187 signatures.
“It had to have been brought up before. I can’t be the first person who has thought of this … so it must have been denied before. The reasoning, I wouldn’t understand,” she said.
The petition, she added, is in its early stages as she wanted to see if other residents would also be interested in it.
“I do think, after I get a substantial amount of signatures, I will take it further,” she said, adding she hopes to bring the petition to the attention of Barrie city council for consideration.
“I think it would bring more tourism and more people to our waterfront. We have to go out of town and spend our money in other towns that have dog beaches.”
