The DIG annual meeting will be held Tuesday, 1/26 at 7PM at a board member's house at 4025 Holmes, KCMO.

We will have a short presentation on DIG accomplishments in 2009 and discuss plans for 2010. All members (essentially persons on our email list) are welcome!

Sent to the list 9/4-

Hey all,
A number of folks are trying hard to get the Park Board to revise or rescind some of the flawed decisions contained in their response to the Dog Park Task Force's report, and we could use your help. Although several other very questionable decisions were included (picking locations the TF thought were poor, changing basic DP requirements to remove having a water source, etc.), as the rule changes directly impact Penn Valley, that has been my focus.

If you need to be brought up to speed, last Tuesday the Board delivered their recommendations in response the dog park task force report. The most shocking changes, at least from my point of view as a task force member, were the rule changes. The task force took a lot of time figuring out whether changes to the Penn Valley rules were needed- you may remember a few emails that went to this list on the subject, looking for feedback. There was some discussion on new rules for children, but the overwhelming consensus was that no significant changes were needed- that folks bringing kids to the park should be trusted to do so responsibly- like any other city park. I have seen lots of families with small children enjoying the dog park, and am aware of no real issues regarding kids in the dog park. As a result of these discussions with PVP DP users and among the task force, along with internet research, the task force concluded new rules on kids were not necessary, and explained our reasoning in detail in the Appendix of the report. Unfortunately, the Board either didn't read or didn't agree with our recommendations, and unanimously approved two rule changes- one limiting users to two dogs per person (which bans me- I have three) and another banning children under 8. The following letter (at bottom of email) will hopefully make the Star, but regardless, if you don't agree (and if you don't bring kids under 8 or more than 2 dogs, please consider the many reponsible users that do, as well as the fact that these situations may fit you someday), please contact the Board, political officials, and the media (see contact info below- thanks Ali!) --Click on'Read More' below--. I don't like having to beat the Board over the head to get these changed, but they don't seem to respond to much else- for instance, an email sent to the Board before these changes were approved pointing out our concerns did not generate a reply. Please see the text of the letter to the editor below for points, if necessary. If we don't fight these, don't be surprised if other arbitrary dog park rule changes come out of nowhere in the future. Thanks for helping!
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Couple of quick notes:
Be aware there is a small hole at the top of the expansion area under the fence from erosion- smaller dogs (20lbs or less, probably) can fit through it. We will try to relocate some rocks to deal with it, but FYI- good reason to use the small dog area!
The small area at the end of the new parking lot is not for parking, it is to make it easier for folks trying to back out of the last spaces. If there aren't lines denoting parking spaces, it isn't a parking spot. Not a huge deal, at least until somebody backs into a car parked there...
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There are a bunch of cool events coming up-
Parks is doing their second annual 'Dippin' Dogs' swim party next Wed. at the Springs Aquatic Center up north. Should be really cool this year, as the Springs is an actual mini-water park and there may be more fun things to get in other than a pool. Also supports doggie charities, and Hallmark is supposedly going to be out there looking for doggie talent. See link- advance registration required.
Later in Sept. (26th), the Royals are

Hey all,
Last Tuesday, the dogpark task force, which included DIG members Paul Randall, Suzanne Niemeyer, and Holly Miller, presented our report to the Park Board. If you don't know the background, the task force was created in late 2007 in the aftermath of the Board's sudden passage of a restrictive, dog-park hostile ordinance which attempted to stop a strong grassroots effort which had emerged to place a dog park in Sunnyside Park in Waldo. Not only did this ordinance (linked below) condemn any future dog parks to the dark corners of the KCMO park system, but it will be of interest to Penn Valley users that it provided several mechanisms, to be judged by the board on vague criteria, to close or alter the Penn Valley dog park. Thanks to great public outcry, the mayor appointed our task force to make recommendations to the Board on the proper implementation of future dog parks, and the ordinance was suspended.

Although the report provides, in my admittedly biased point of view, excellent tools to help the Park Board make additional dog parks in the city happen quickly, whether that happens will likely depend on a large amount of visible public, political, and eventually financial support for more dog parks. Our presentation didn't seem to generate much enthusiasm from the board, likely in part due to the difficult financial situation they are in at the moment. However, dog parks are a hugely successful means to increase park usage, are in obvious demand, and the city is woefully behind already in comparison to other similar sized cities, most of which have had multiple dog parks for many years now. Plus it seems clear that considerable private money can be raised for dog parks, if sites will only be approved by the Board. The task force was disappointed that the Board said that no final recommendations will be made without more public meetings, which is to a degree re-doing our work, as the task force had five public meetings over the last two years to discuss the matter.

The Board stated they will share their plans regarding dog parks in 30 days. If you want more dog parks, be ready and willing to show up at a public meeting to show your support, contact your council members, or write letters. Each recommended site will likely generate opposition from 'not in my backyard' types, so it is essential that folks that support dog parks in the locations identified speak up, or they won't have a chance. There is clearly at least one Park Board member adamantly opposed to dog parks, and there was no strong statement of support for the concept from any other Board members, so it may take continual, sustained public pressure to get decent sites recommended. At least some of the Board seems to have a somewhat backward view of dog parks, being greatly concerned about the amount of people these facilities will attract to parks, while seemingly missing that their main mandate at appointment was to get more people using city parks.

Here are the task force's primary recommended sites in bold along with other recommended sites, grouped by the geographic areas we used to distribute parks around the city. Note that each refers to a SITE in each park, they do not mean the whole park would become a dogpark. We placed sites carefully to not overwhelm any park, and to not interfere with other park programming.

North of the River- Frank Vaydik (formerly Line Creek) Park, Englewood Park, Hidden Valley Park, Hodge Park, Lakewood Greenway
Downtown to 31st St.- Case and Mulkey Square Parks (ideally developed concurrently)
Northeast- Maple Park
31st St. to I-435: Sunnyside Park, Daniel Morgan Boone Park, Gillham Park, Swope Park, Westwood Park
South of I-435: Minor Park

Attached is the report- it is worth a look just for Holly's excellent photos and pretty design. You can also get a copy on the Park's website (linked below).

See everybody at the park! http://www.kcmo.org/parks/parks/DogParkGuidelines.pdfhttp://www.kcmo.org/parks.nsf/web/DogParkTaskForce

Hey all,
We will be doing a park clean up this Saturday, 7/18 from 10 to Noon. We have specific items that need to be addressed in addition to the usual poop/trash/rock pickup, namely try to remove the dirt/mud around the bottom bench, clean up the trash that has accumulated in the water jug bins near the bottom gate (they are not recycle bins!), and try to fill in the ruts between the new lot and the main area to assist wheelchair-bound park users. Please come out and help if you can- even 15 minutes of help is appreciated. If you can't make it out at that time, consider picking up a couple of extra piles next time you are out to contribute. Being tidy is also always appreciated- don't leave trash laying around (cigarette butts count!- they are quite toxic and could make a goofy dog that decides to eat them very sick), and throw away chewed up jugs and other random trash you see around. Thanks all, see you Saturday!
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Our small dog fundraiser at the Brookside Barkery and Bath was a big success, raising over $300 toward the effort. Big thanks to the Barkery (and Jason specifically), and especially volunteers Ali and Gina, who single-handedly made it work! The new small dog area should be done by this weekend, judging from the progress already made as of Wednesday (may be done now, haven't been out since). If you are excited about it, and want to help us recover the $3000 we (DIG) are contributing to pay for the work, please consider throwing us a few bucks through the small dog area fundraising page or through our pay pal 'Donate' link on diginthepark.com.

Note that the small dog area is limited to dogs 40 lbs and under, although elderly and handicapped pups can also use it if they can get along with the small fry and truly don't do well in the larger dog area. All dog park rules apply to the small dog area, too- last thing we need is a small aggressive dog driving other small dogs into the large dog area or making people not want to use it. Of course, the lightweights will always be welcome in the main dog park, but do so at their own risk (very small dogs- under 10 lbs- should likely not be in the main area at any time for safety reasons).
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Our dog park task force will be presenting our report (finally!) to

Hey all,
Have some exciting info to share! As you may have noticed, the expansion area plans included a small dog area (the reason for the second gate in the new entry area), but the work couldn't be done with the money Parks had available. HOWEVER, our contractor has offered to complete the small dog area for a very reasonable amount (around $3500). DIG has launched a effort to raise this very doable amount in a short timeframe so we don't miss this opportunity. It is unlikely building the small dog area will ever be as simple (we can avoid much of the paperwork by doing it right behind the other project) or as cheap. The area is truly needed, as there are many, many small dogs who aren't comfortable (or are their owners) playing with the bigger boys and girls, and therefore can't enjoy the dog park experience. It is also of benefit to larger dog owners, as it reduces the number of dogs in the general area.

DIG board member Ali Kelley is leading this effort, with a goal of raising $1000 by July 15th (enough to lock up the opportunity before it is too late) and the full amount by the end of the summer. To do so, she has created a DIG facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=90636031444) as well as a First Giving page (http://www.firstgiving.com/alikelley) dedicated to the small dog fundraising effort. Below is her excellent spiel on her effort- please go donate NOW so we can get this done! Any amount will help, thank you!!! (DIG is a 501(c)3 non-profit, so donations ARE tax deductible.)

Dear Friends and Fans of Penn Valley Off Leash Dog Park:
A small dog area is included in the current expansion plan for the Penn Valley Off Leash Dog Park, however, due to the current economic climate, The Parks & Rec dept. does not have a budget to build it this year. The good news is that the contractor working on the current off leash park and parking lot expansion has generously offered to build the small dog area at a VERY reasonable cost, as he will be able to reuse some of the materials from the current expansion. If funds are not raised to build the small area NOW, we run the risk of either waiting years to see it to completion, or worse, never seeing it completed at all.
Small dogs (and dog owners) deserve the same opportunity to enjoy playing and socializing with their pals as the larger dogs do currently - in a safe, non-intimidating enviornment. We know you are out there, so PLEASE, help DIG seize this short window of opportunity!! If we build it, they WILL come!
Join the cause, please visit http://www.firstgiving.com/alikelley to donate today.
A big Thank You from DIG and all the Little Pals yapping (loudly!) to go to the park!
Please forward any questions or concerns to Ali Kelley, DIG Board Member, at alicia.kelley@sanofipasteur.com
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As mentioned, thanks to Ali, DIG is now on Facebook! Check out the new site and become a friend! DIG's Facebook page will include emails sent to the list just like diginthepark.com, but Facebook also gives us many features that diginthepark.com can't provide (or doesn't provide easily), and should be a great addition/compliment to the 'official' site. The page will be heavily used going forward- it isn't just for the small dog area fundraising.
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10AM-Noon this Saturday (6/20) is clean up day! DIG will be bringing out cold drinks for anyone who will help. Please let us know if you can come by responding to the list- we will vary what we take on based on how many folks will be coming out. THANK YOU for helping!!!
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As you probably know from my constant harping, Halfway Home (http://www.petshalfwayhome.com/) has been fighting hard to overcome recent high owner surrender numbers to avoid euthanizing good dogs, but they need help. If you want to help them, either by adopting another furry kid or just throwing a few bucks their way, you can do both and have a great time at Lollapawlooza (http://www.waldodogpark.com/), a fundraiser being put on by WOOF and Dog's World of Fun to benefit Halfway this Saturday, 6/20, in Waldo. And if you can't help with $ or by taking on a new furry kid, they DESPERATELY need volunteers. Even a few hours a week will help immensely, for instance by allowing shelter dogs to get out of their cages for a walk. See the site's volunteer link.

Donate to the small dog effort, see everybody at the park!

Hey all,
There are two worthy causes having fundraisers in the next three weeks. WOOF is putting on a fundraiser for Halfway Home Pet Adoptions (the new KCMO shelter) Saturday 6/20 from 9AM-3PM. Lots of deals and fun stuff, see http://petshalfwayhome.com/ for more info. HSGKC is having their very popular annual Dog-n-Jog on the Plaza next Sunday the 14th. See http://hsgkc.org/dognjogpage09.html for more info.
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Although I know it looks done, and it is tempting to use both, but neither the new lot or the expansion area are available yet for use. Parks opted to plant buffalo grass in an effort to reduce future wear problems, and it takes some time to get established (athough it appears to be getting there- note that most of the green stuff in the area is actually oats which are meant to hold the soil until the buffalo grass gets going). The lot can't be opened, as it would encourage heavy traffic across the growing grass. Be patient a bit longer- it should be no more than a few weeks. We will be talking with Parks about getting some of the gates padlocked for now to stop early use.
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I know everybody loved Rockfest :), and we have two other events coming up, Show Me Pride and the Hospital Hill run, that will be right next to the DP and result in restricted access. Here is the info I have:
ShowMe Pride – June 5, 6 & 7th
29th St closed – June 5, 5 pm to June 7, 11:59 pm
Kessler Rd closed (Wyandotte to west Liberty Memorial Parking Lot) – June 5, 5 pm to June 7, 11:59 pm
Hospital Hill Run – June 6
Memorial Drive closed am hours
Wyandotte closed am hours
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We again are getting hammered on bought bag usage. Please, please, please consider collecting and bringing recycled plastic bags to put in the IKEA dispensers, or just do your best to avoid using the purchased bags. Or if you like the provided bags, consider making a donation throught the 'donate' link to the right to help cover our costs. Thanks all!
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As you may have seen, there was a letter in the Star refering to the dog that died recently at the dogpark. This is

Hey everybody,
Take Your Dog to A Movie night is this Thursday (5/21)! Come out to see and be seen at the fashion show, pick up a goodie bag from our sponsor City Pets (first 50 dogs), then kick back on a blanket to enjoy the 'Truth About Cats and Dogs' on the (somewhat) big screen! The Humane Society of Greater KC, Midwest Pug Rescue, and Halfway Home pet adoptions (the new privatized KCMO shelter) will all be out with adoptable dogs, lit, and donation jars. We would also encourage people to bring items to help Halfway Home get their new operation rolling, such as bleach, small/medium crates, dog and cat toys, food, and collars, etc. See their website for a full list of needed items.

If you are thinking of getting another dog, this is a great opportunity to start the adoption process now with one of the above organizations and be able to (possibly) have a full 'meet and greet' at the dp Thursday. Good opportunity to see how your current dogs and the prospect(s) relate in an open, fenced area.
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Couple of upcoming Penn Valley Park events to keep in mind- Rockfest will be back at the park on 5/30 (Saturday only this year), resulting in the blocking off of the 29th/Wyandotte area that day. The Show Me Pride Festival will also be in the same area 6/6 and 6/7. Parking at Off Broadway is recommended on those days.
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Thanks to everyone,

Hey all,
On 2/24, someone believes they lost their set of Ford car keys (not the set looped through the fence by the north entrance) at the off-leash area. If you found them, or saw them put somewhere, please respond to the list! (email digannouncements@gmail.com)
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The 29th street parking area work has started. Although I haven't been by to see if the area is completely blocked off, even it if isn't I would recommend parking at Off Broadway instead of on 29th. Again, Off Broadway is the one parking area that will remain open throughout the work period, so getting in the habit of parking there is a good idea.
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The KCMO municipal shelter is going private, and needs the community's help to make life better for the animals stuck there, and to also make for a much more attractive adoption environment. True animal advocates are now in charge, so there is a huge opportunity to make a big difference in the lives of dogs who previously had poor chances of surviving their stay and getting adopted out. If you can help, please do! See below for materials they need. Volunteers are also needed. I am trying to find out the best way to make $ donations, will pass that one once I have the info. Below is a plea for help from Jen Shive, the new adoption coordinator:

Dear fellow dog lovers and advocates,

Most of you received an email from me last week and I apologize if I have not been able to respond because we have been working very hard all week to get the shelter ready. It's not even close to being where we want it but we're getting there. Our new name will be Halfway Home Pet Adoptions. We are desperate for these donations so please get the word out to help us. I'm sure I will be working 7-7 all next week as we transition so feel free to drop them off at our location at 4400 Raytown Rd. If you can't drop off donations give me your contact info and I'll send out emails asking people to transport for us but I will have to be able to give out your contact info. Here goes the list and thank you again for all of your support.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>For our new cat room>>>>>>>>>>>>>
-Hanging bird feeders and bird food to put outside the cat room windows
-Blankets, cat beds
-treats and canned food
-bowls
-toys
-window seats
-cat houses-hideouts to put throughout the room
-scratch pads
-sitting chairs to put in the room-the room is pink
-litter and litter boxes

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>For the dogs>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

-Sheets, blankets, dog beds and pillows
-animal print fabric
-bandannas
-bowls
-toys
-treats and canned food
-peanut butter(new and empty jars)
-collars and leashes

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>General Stuff

Hey all,
Recent changes have resulted in two new and one existing dog non-profits/enterprises that could use your help. One is going to be hugely dependent on help from the community to succeed, and the other two are organizations/individuals that do outstanding work and are facing some new challenges presently. First, as you may have heard, the KCMO shelter has privatized in an effort to do a better job of adopting out pets and reducing euthanasia rates. As I know two great individuals who are deeply involved in this effort (Dr. Steckelburg and Jennifer Shive formerly of Spay Neuter Kansas City) and will do their best to vastly improve the current state of the shelter, I am sure this change can be a HUGE success if well supported by the community. First, please consider making the KCMO shelter the first shelter you try (or recommend to others) if you adopt your next pet from a shelter. These pups, unlike low kill or no kill shelters, are literally on death row day one. Adopting these dogs at this choke point immediately gives another dog a better chance of getting out alive. And there are GREAT dogs there, I know from experience, one of my dogs (Fuzz) is a KCMO shelter rescue, and she has more personality, looks, and smarts (as well as ears) than 95% of the dogs out there (I may be a bit biased...:). See the email from Jen below, she can be contacted at jshive@sbcglobal.net:

Dear Animal loving friends,
You are receiving this email because you either know me from volunteering at Spay and Neuter Kansas City or you are just a fellow animal lover and advocate.
I’m sure you know by now that I know longer work for Spay and Neuter Kansas City as of January 19th, 2009 but I have a new job that I want to quickly tell you about. I have been hired as one of two Adoption Coordinators for the Kansas City Public Shelter. As of March 1st, 2009 the shelter is no longer run by the city and it will be privatized. What that means is that it is still a drop off site for Kansas City residents and Animal Control will still bring strays there as well as the public, but we are going to emphasize adoptions, educating the public, and decreasing euthanasia. Right now this particular shelter euthanizes 400 animals a month. My goal and the goal of everyone who has been hired to work there is to tremendously decrease that number by increasing adoptions, educating the public and working with rescue groups. You can help in several ways. If you would like to help here is a list of ways to get involved. Please email me if
you would like to get involved.
1) Volunteer Opportunities-the shelter is going to be open 7 days a week. I will need people to help walk dogs, play with dogs, play with cats, groom and bathe animals, clean, etc. I think we will start at 7am cleaning and feeding and end at 7pm. There are only 2 Coordinators so we need as much help as possible to make the biggest impact. If you’re interested email me and I’ll send you a application. Keep in mind, this is not a no kill shelter but as hard as it may be you can make a huge impact on the lives of these animals.
2) Donations-This list may grow but we will need blankets, dog beds, cat beds, bowls, treats, canned cat and dog food, cat and dog toys, bleach, paper towels, shallow cardboard boxes for litter boxes and litter. Our budget will be stretched to its limit so we would accept as many donations as we can get. Monetary donations will be accepted as well and will be a tax right off. We will be running a non-profit organization as well.
3) Email-I will be sending out emails about dogs and cats that I want to get out of the shelter so that they don’t get euthanized. If you want to receive those emails to forward let me know. Otherwise I won’t bother sending those emails to you. They may be frequent depending on how our adoptions go. I really need to hear from rescue groups who want to know what is at the shelter that needs to be pulled. (note- the DIG email list can't pass on all of these emails- please sign up independently if you want to get them!)
4) SPREAD THE WORD-We need your help promoting out shelter and encouraging people to come and adopt. We will get to screen and there will be an adoption process. I will do whatever I can to match these animals with responsible and caring people. We need your support. Please forward this email to anyone you think would like to help. Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Shive

By the way, the Brookside Barkery and Bath

Hello all,
As you have likely noticed, the work on the new parking lot and expansion is progressing well. If you are not up on the history and details, in 2006 DIG successfully applied for PIAC (Public Improvement Advisory Committee- a city mechanism to fund neighborhood projects) funding for a parking lot and expansion. That work is now going, and includes a parking lot on the hill, fence expansion up the hill toward the lot, improvements to the area off 29th street and runoff control measures, specifically numerous rain gardens. I have attached an image file that contains a good snapshot of the overall plan ('#1' in image)- note that the general dimensions are accurate, but some items listed (like the terracing inside the present area near the big rocks) did not get included in the final plans (join the list to get the image- PR). A small dog area is planned for but not funded (area to the north of the parking area next to the fence in the image- more on that later). All of the non-plant related work should be done by 4/20.

Obviously, it is great that we are getting this work done to provide much needed parking and additional space, especially with the popularity of the off-leash area clearly growing. However, some inconvienences will come along with the construction. The contractor is required to block off areas where he is working for safety reasons. As a result, areas around the park may become inaccessible during the work, and it is possible the off-leash area itself may be closed at times if needed. We will do our best to encourage that the work be done as unobtrusively as possible, and will try to provide updates on areas being closed in advance, but expect the unexpected and adjust approriately. One possibly major inconvienence that is coming up is the work off of 29th street, which could result in that popular parking area not being available. Once the parking lot is poured (presently in progress), work will shift to the 29th street area (29th st. is the street that goes down the hill from the back of the Fed to Broadway). Please consider getting in the habit of using the Off Broadway Lot until the work is done. It will be the one parking and park access area that should remain available throughout the work, and is easily accessible by taking 29th down to Broadway, turning left (south) on Broadway and then veering to the right and going under the overpass to Off Broadway.

Obviously, please be considerate of the contractor. DO NOT cross orange fences, even if down. DO NOT park in the construction area on the hill. DO NOT park on the grass across from the 29th street parking area. Read updates sent to the list. Thanks, your cooperation will lead to the work being done more quickly!
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DIG had a meeting of our new board, and elected officers for 2009. They are:
Paul Randall - President
Bob Hale - Treasurer
Julie Weeks - Secretary

A subsequent email will provide contact information for all the board members. Of course, DIG can always be contacted by replying to this list, or through the 'contact us' link on the website (diginthepark.com). Please remember that DIG is a 501(c)3 non-profit, not a city funded organization, does not have formal authority over the park, and is limited in what we can do by how much volunteer and membership support we get. We are always interested in helping to make the park better and hear about ideas and concerns, but we can't fix everything, and even great ideas can only be acted upon if we have sufficient cooperation and volunteer support to make it happen. If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity, please respond to the list!
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Although we are still hashing out some of our plans, we can share a few things DIG will definately be doing in 2009:
1. Will host a table at the Pet Expo April 18-19. We need volunteers, let us know if you want to help staff the table!
2. Will have a spring fundraiser at Pizza 51, likely in April. Again, will need volunteers.
3. Will host another 'Take your dog to movie night' with Parks and Rec on May 21st at the park. Ditto on volunteers. Movie TBD.
4. Have more regular and better attended cleanups. Again, need volunteers.
5. We are looking into funding the small dog area as our main focus in 2009. We will definately make this goal the beneficiary of one fundraiser. If we decide it is feasible, big volunteer and donation effort needed!
6. We are experimenting with alternating poop bag purchasing with Parks and Rec throughout 2009. The black bags on a roll are DIG purchased. Parks and Rec will be hurting in the new budget, so we are trying to help out.
7. We will try to do coffee events again this summer. This one will largely be decided by volunteer help- we can almost certainly get the coffee, but won't ask the same couple of people to do almost all of the events again this year, as it isn't fair. So if you want to help, let us know (it is easy). We will invite non-profits to come out for them, so it