Dogs are required to be securely leashed and under the reasonable control of the owner, keeper or agent thereof whenever they are on public sidewalks, streets or any other public rights-of-way. Dogs must also be leashed and controlled in city natural areas such as Elizabeth Gardens and Houk Stream, and are prohibited altogether in the city’s primary parks (Cook, Fairridge, Orchardly and Shafor Parks) and Smith Gardens. These rules apply to all dogs in Oakwood, although there are certain exceptions for service animals and for dogs using the Creager Field Dog Park.
Oakwood is densely populated and we have a very large number of dogs… around 1,000 registered in Oakwood, where we have about 4,000 homes. The leash law is designed to mitigate the unpredictability of dogs and to protect both citizens and other animals from unexpected and unwanted encounters. Even the most well-trained dogs, under the right set of circumstances, can be unpredictable. Citizens should be able to move about the public sidewalks and rights-of-way freely and without concern or fear from unleashed dogs.