Are lack of dog parks a sign of racism?
Why are there more dog parks in white and diverse neighborhoods?
Writer’s note on Oct. 29, 2021: I wrote this post before I learned of a TikTok user who was being wildly harassed at a dog park while trying to leave. I’m at a loss for words. It’s bad enough to not be able to have dog parks in your neighborhood. But what do you do when you are in your neighborhood already and someone is profiling you? (Video 1 and Video 2)
“Let’s go to the dog park!” my mother exclaimed. “I’ve never been to one before.”
I didn’t really want to go. But I started counting off all the dog parks and dog beaches I’d been to in the past two years of being a dog walker and realized I’d never been to one that wasn’t in a multicultural or white neighborhood. There definitely wasn’t a dog park or dog beach in my (predominantly black) childhood neighborhood.
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Although I enjoyed reading a good book on the rocks and enjoying Lake Michigan near a dog beach, dog parks were never a highlight. If the pet owner suggested a dog park, I knew it was too much trouble to make the mileage-walking specifications if I unleashed the dog and let her run around until our 20 minutes or 30 minutes were up. I would, however, go to dog parks if I was dog boarding or dog sitting and didn’t have to worry about time nor mileage.
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