Lowell, Indiana Has Dog Fancy's Best Dog Park

May 26th 2009

Caninophile mag Dog Fancy recently announced its annual list of America's Best Dog Parks. Tops this year is Freedom Bark Park in Lowell, Indiana -- a newsworthy pick for many reasons. For starters, the facility only opened for business in October 2008. (A Halloween parade, pet costume contest, and "pet blessing," comprised the opening ceremonies.) Plus, the new dog park includes a "digging area," according to Dog Fancy editor Susan Chaney -- perhaps the advent of a useful, new trend in dog-park design?

The Dog Fancy write-up of its first-place finisher notes that Freedom Bark Park was financed entirely through private donations and built thanks to more than 2,700 hours of volunteer service, "from farmers who tilled the land and planted grass seed to the high-school art teacher who painted the park's decorative fire hydrant."

But what's most striking is that the town of Lowell "doesn't even allow leashed dogs in regular parks" [italics all ours]! Wuzzat? Peeking around the town's website and its Parks Department links sheds no extra light on this appalling ordinance. Sounds like some ridiculous, implausible plot point on a certain sitcom to us -- and ironic, don'tcha think, that it's called Freedom Park?

Speaking of notable names, we like such runner-up dog park monikers as Howlabaloo Dog Park (Edinboro, PA), Happy Tails Dog Park (Dunedin, FL) and the nepotistic Millie Bush Bark Park of Houston, TX. For the complete list, pick up the June 2009 issue of Dog Fancy.