Unfortunately, there are some irresponsible dog owners who do not pick up after their dog, which certainly does not help our cause. On March 21, 2009, we sent a letter to the mayor of Borough Ville-Marie asking him to take concrete actions  in order to punish severely this lack of civility.

Apart from walking, dogs also need to exercise freely and socialize with other dogs. That’s why in many cities we find dog parks. When we presented our dog park project for the Old Montréal to our City Counselor, Catherine Sévigny, she immediately welcomed it with enthusiasm and took it under her wing from the beginning until its official opening on September 20, 2007. We then named it “Pilote” to honor the legendary dog who saved Ville-Marie from an Iroquois attack on March 30, 1644.

Our dog park, situated at the corner of Duke and Brennan St, next to Bonaventure Highway, will inevitably be affected by the work planned by Société du Havre to take down this highway. On April 8, 2009, we were invited to meet the people responsible for this project at Société du Havre, as well as Catherine Sévigny, who still cares for the future of “her” dog park even if she doesn’t own a dog. Parc Pilote will remain at its actual location. But, while the work on Bonaventure Highway will take place in 2010/11 (to be confirmed when all the planning is done), our dog park will temporarily relocated to another site, most likely situated on the territory managed by Société du Havre.

Until then, there will be many rumors, but there is one thing we know for sure and that is in 2009 Parc Pilote will remain where it is. Therefore we won’t invest much money from our memberships into the park this year. We think it’s better to wait after the work at Bonaventure is done and invest in the resettlement of the park instead. We will then consider adding a shelter, an agility run, etc.

So here’s what summarize the main objectives of the Club:

1. •Try to convince the Old Port Corporation of the non-sense of banning dogs from their site at all time.
   

2. •Help to encourage people to pick up after their dogs.
   

3. •Keep a responsible eye on our dog park and its future.
   

The vitality of our club relies pretty much on its members. If some of you wish to participate by proposing activities at the park, or some actions to publicize our petition to the Old-Port, or just by keeping a vigilant eye on the park so it stays clean and well taken care of, you are most welcome.

If you’d like to become a member, click here. You’ll receive the occasional Newsletter, you’ll have the privilege to buy bio poop bags at a good price and we’ll add the picture of your dog to our Website album.

We all work together with a common goal, which is to improve relationships between our best friends and the humane society of Old Montréal.

Marlène Savard