Help Milwaukee Dog Parks Win $500,000

If you have been paying attention, you know I love dogs. They are 'man's' best friend after all. I personally have been involved in animal welfare for over a decade, one piece of which was founding and helping lead the friends group for dog parks in Milwaukee: ROMP, through which we were able to get 4 new parks opened with 2 more on the way next year. Now, everyone else can help make them even better by winning a $500,000 donation.


The purpose of Residents for Off-leash Milwaukee Parks was to get more dog parks. At the time there was only one - Granville - on the far northwest corner of the county, almost in Menomonee Falls which was a hastily planned park made for dog owners to use when they ere kicked out of the county grounds. My wife and I had a deaf border collie who needed exercise in a safe environment, meaning fenced in, but we lived in a small yard in Bay View and Granville was not fenced in. We used to drive out to Grafton to go to the only fenced in public space for dogs at Muttland Meadows. After founding ROMP with other like-minded individuals, we discussed many ways to go about it - including finding land and running them ourselves - but decided to work with the Milwaukee county parks department to develop a system that would accommodate multiple parks, emulating what Dane County already had with 11 dog parks. Over the years we helped get 4 new parks opened and 2 more are in construction, all fully-fenced in designated areas. Now it is your turn to help take them to the next level.

Milwaukee Dog Parks can win a $500,000 donation from Beneful Dog Food for improving an existing dog park and/or creating a new one as part of its Dream Dog Park contest. Carla and her dog Karma, regulars at the Estabrook Park Dog Exercise Area, entered their video in the contest with ideas on how to improve dog parks in our community. She has some great ideas and is one of the contest finalists. To win $500,000 for ROMP, she needs everyone to watch her video and vote!

Go to http://www.beneful.com/Dream-Dog-Park. Click on VOTE NOW and choose Carla and Karma from Milwaukee, WI. The deadline to vote is Dec 5, 2013. Supports can vote for the video once per day.

To learn more about Milwaukee dog parks, visit milwaukeedogparks.org. Spread the word and make Milwaukee rise up once again to win an online vote as we Wisconsinites are known for!