Free Fido!
This is Jayla and Casper at Point Isabel after it reopened in June. Photo by their owner, Cheryl Lyn Vergara
COVID Closures Unleash Drama for Bay Area Dog Walkers
Life turned upside down for many of us in March 2020. One thing that never changed, though: dogs just wanted to have fun. But where they and their people could legally do that became a challenge.
In the early days of shelter-in-place, people were encouraged to walk in their neighborhoods or not far from home. Enclosed dog parks shut down, although off-leash areas in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area stayed open, as did some off-leash areas in the East Bay. East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD), which has historically supported off-leash dog walking, made its entire 125,000-acre system of 73 parks and 1,250 miles of trails on-leash only. It also closed some trailheads and parking lots to discourage crowds. And it completely shut down Point Isabel Regional Shoreline for the first time since that park was established almost 50 years ago.
Point Isabel is a 50-acre park in Richmond known nationwide for stunning views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. To area dog lovers, it’s beloved for amenities such as a café and dog wash and for being entirely off-leash. Heavily used by people walking dogs, it’s also one of the best windsurfer and kayak launches in the East Bay and is popular with joggers, birdwatchers and others. Park users of all kinds were shocked when, on March 31st, tall chain link fences went up barring access. Even a short segment of the Bay Trail that loops around the park was blocked off.
Point Isabel was closed largely to discourage crowds. It also wasn’t clear back then whether COVID-19 could be picked up from touching a dog’s coat. (Four months later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found there is “no evidence the virus can spread to people from the skin, fur, or hair of pets.”
The closing of Point Isabel shone a bright light on the difference between dog parks and off-leash areas. Public health officers around the Bay Area had ordered all small, enclosed recreation areas to close, including basketball courts, tot lots, skate parks, and dog parks. EBRPD, out of an excess of caution, followed suit and closed Point Isabel because, it said, the area “functions as a dog park.”
Actual dog parks didn’t need to close because of their function, of course, but because of their form. Confined, enclosed areas where people hung out in close quarters were clearly a bad idea, while open spaces were considered much lower risk. That’s why Berkeley padlocked Ohlone Dog Park but not the 17-acre off-leash area at Cesar Chavez Park. Albany closed its tiny Memorial Park dog park but didn’t restrict off-leash dog walking at the 40-acre Albany Bulb.
Getting Point Isabel open again took a team effort. Elizabeth Echols, the EBRPD board member who represents Ward 1, which includes Point Isabel, fought to keep the park open in the first place and then worked to get it re-opened and off-leash again. Windsurfers also pitched in, insisting it wasn’t appropriate to shutter a regional park that served so many user groups at a time when people needed recreation more than ever. Point Isabel Dog Owners (PIDO), which has focused for 35 years on keeping the park clean and safe, argued that the closure did not benefit public health. PIDO also pointed out that it’s easier to maintain social distance in a large open area such as Point Isabel than along the narrow trails in many other parks, and that the closure forced huge numbers of park regulars to crowd into other, smaller parks along the shoreline.
On June 1, after two months of group effort, EBRPD reopened Point Isabel. A few days later, when Contra Costa County allowed dog parks to open again, PIDO made the case that if enclosed dog parks could operate safely with no leash requirement then so could Point Isabel. On June 8, EBRPD restored off-leash dog walking at Point Isabel.
EBRPD, which straddles two counties, had indicated to dog walking advocates that it would restore off-leash privileges throughout its parks whenever Alameda County, like Contra Costa County, allowed dog parks to reopen. Alameda County reopened the dog parks in mid-June, but as of mid-July leashes are still required everywhere in EBRPD except Point Isabel.
EBRPD’s progressive dog walking policies are one reason many people choose to live in the East Bay, and dog lovers anticipate that off-leash privileges will eventually be restored. Generally speaking, wherever EBRPD allows dogs, they may be off-leash on dirt trails but not on paved trails or in parking lots, picnic areas, and other “developed areas.” Anyone who brings dogs to the parks must clean up after them and be able to control them with voice commands. Dogs also need to be on-leash for the first 200 feet of trails, and must never harass other park visitors, wildlife, or cattle. And these days, of course, throughout the park district, park visitors must wear masks when they’re within six feet of people they don’t live with and avoid getting any closer than that.
In hindsight, we should have emphasized mask-wearing rather than wiping down groceries or not petting other people’s dogs, but it’s been a learning curve for all of us. Let’s hope we’ll be back soon to full off-leash options for all Bay Area dogs and the humans who love them.