There are designated “dog parks” which are designed as areas where dogs may run and play free of restraints. But within other general public parks there are legal ordinances.
Sergeant Eric Hubble is Supervisor of the Animal Control Unit for Roanoke County. He draws the contrast between private property and the parks, “The parks are a different animal. The parks do have a leash law. All dogs in county parks are required to be on leashes at all times or under some type of control.”
Hubble admits enforcement can be a challenge as there is limited manpower to cover all of the parks within the county. “Currently we’re only at four officers for the entire county. So, if an incident was to occur after their hours, generally a patrol officer would come and address the situation”, says Hubble.
He suggests joggers and other park visitors can play it safe and give themselves some level of protection by coming prepared, “We recommend to numerous people when they’re walking or running – pepper spray, bear spray – that type of thing.”
It is important to point out every jurisdiction has its own specific set of codes which you can usually find online at that jurisdiction’s website.
I met some dog owners at a park in southwest Roanoke County. They shared their views on bringing their furry companions to the shared public area.
“If we see…and we tell each other if we see somebody coming that we don’t or there’s a group of children. You know, the worst thing is the children coming up and getting at the dogs before they ask. But we tell each other, ‘there’s so-and-so and there’s a dog we don’t know’, and everybody leashes the dogs,” one owner said.
“We basically have small groups over here," another added. "All the dogs kind of know one another and play together, are friendly, and we know how our dogs are going to react to that dog. Do I need to go grab my dog because he’s coming across? No. They know one another. They’re friendly.”
“I feel like I can reasonably keep him off leash near people and things," a third owner said. "But, once we get into a big group, like all these kids practicing soccer over there, it’s just easier to put him on the leash and not trouble anybody.”
Paul Thomson is a Roanoke attorney who deals in personal injury. And he too is a dog owner. He says the law is clear and responsibility falls squarely with the dog’s owner, “If you’re in a general park, you need to have your dog leashed. And, in fact, there’s a Virginia administrative code section that talks about having your dog on a leash - a six-foot leash.”
He draws an important distinction between types of interactions, “Virginia’s a contributory negligence state. And we recognize a defense of assumption of risk. So, if you walk up and run up to that dog and start trying to pet that dog, you can expect an argument that you assume the risk of being bitten by that dog. But if you’re jogging in that park and that dog approaches you and bites you, then I would think that we would easily find liability on the dog owner.”
Should someone be injured by a dog, liability and damages can be significant.
Thomson outlines what might be at stake, “The damages that you would be pursuing would be compensation for the full medical bills whether you had health insurance or not. Pain and suffering, past and future.”
So, when taking your dog to the park, Thomson offers this bit of advice, “Use common sense. Have the dog on a leash. Have the dog in your control. And that way your dog’s not going to bite anyone and you’re not going to get sued.”
