"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole” -
Roger Caras
In July 2004, a group of downtown residents joined together
with the Denver’s Environmental Health
Department to educate dog owners in Commons
Park about Denver’s leash laws. Virtually every one of these dog owners asked
about the possibility of an off-lease area somewhere downtown.
As a result, the same group of residents and interested
neighbors joined together with a simple goal – finding a place for a dog to be
a dog. We found a location – a parcel of
land that is just under an acre at 19th and Bassett Street, just around the corned
from Denver Skatepark and Commons Park
. Most of the land was already dedicated park
land, and Denver Parks and Recreation didn’t have the
funding to build it out.
In 2006, The Railyard Dogs, a 501(c)(3) charitable
organization, was created to raise the funds to design and construct this park,
and to otherwise improve the lives of Downtown Denver dogs.
The Railyard Dogs has changed its membership over the years
as changes in staff in Parks and Recreation and Environmental Health have
changed, and as our neighbors have changed.
But the mission has remained strong among the core members.