Fairfield Pet Owners Say Dog Park Rocks Shred Pets' Paws
FAIRFIELD (CBS13) — Pet owners in Fairfield say a dog park is leaving their animals with cut up paws from the crushed granite used in the landscaping.
Some parts of Cordelia Community Park feature the granite that has injured dogs.
Dr. Robert Russum has seen what's happened to some of the animals.
"In two weeks, I saw three to four dogs that came in with their pads kinda cut up," he said. "It's like a person with blisters all over their feet. It's little cuts in their pads.
Those cuts can be both painful and damaging.
"I think people have figured it out, and they're avoiding it, and they're running them on the grass and other places," he said.
But critics argue people shouldn't have to figure it out and the city should get rid of the jagged rocks.
"I would love to have better footing, anything similar to the smaller dog park down there would be much better for them to run on," one park visitor said.
"Just plain dirt is even better than rocks like this, and if they're chasing each other up and down I don't want them to be hopping down, landing on rocks," another visitor said.
City leaders have agreed to look at putting in a different surface. Until then, the dogs will have to watch where they walk.