back to top

Demographic Data

The American Veterinary Medical Association calculates that 32% of California households have dogs. A recent Gallup poll found that 45% of homes in the United States have dogs, with over half of the households in the most heavily dog populated states of Texas and California having at least one dog. Thus, estimates of the percentage of households with dogs in California range from approximately one-third to one-half. Combining these estimates with U.S. Census data, this translates to a conservative estimate of approximately 156,000 dog owners in Santa Barbara county. (4) The estimated number of dog owners in the city of Santa Barbara is nearly 37,000, with approximately 25,000 dogs currently living within the city limits.

Such large numbers of dogs and dog owners require an open space plan that recognizes the potential effect of a large number of dogs and accommodates their special needs appropriately. Simply put, dog owners need open space for off-leash dog exercise in a fair proportion to their numbers: this would translate to between 32% and 50% (between 18 and 28 of the city’s 55 parks) of Santa Barbara’s parks and open spaces.

back to top

Diversity of Location and Terrain

Among the considerations that must be taken into account when determining which parks and public areas are to be designated for the legal off-leash exercise of dogs are the diversity of location and terrain. Diversifying the locations of off-leash parks helps to guard against dog overcrowding, to lessen the impact of vehicle parking problems, and to enable more members of the community access to a park within a reasonable distance of their own home. Such considerations are particularly important to the elderly and to less mobile citizens.

Diversity of terrain is important to dogs and to dog owners. All dogs do not have the same needs. For example, dogs bred to run (e.g., Greyhounds) need large open spaces to do so. Dogs who are naturally water dogs (e.g., Golden Retrievers) need access to water in order to get proper exercise. In addition, dog owners themselves have varying ways of recreating with their dogs in open space, and differing abilities to enjoy areas that may prove physically challenging to access.

It is not reasonable to expect that all of these concerns – convenient access, diversity of locations, and variety of terrain – can be met perfectly for all community residents. However, a strategy that embraces the principles behind these types of access can go a long way toward accommodating the vast majority of dog owners.

One effective strategy for accommodating dog owners’ needs is to attempt to provide a hierarchy of open space options that provides dogs and their owners daily, regular, and occasional use areas for off-leash dog exercise and training. By doing so, we can take a creative approach toward providing park and public area access that considers the needs of dog owners.

Daily opportunities should be scattered throughout the community. Daily areas are those that provide everyone the opportunity to access an open, public space within a reasonable walking distance from one’s home. Demographic data must be considered in choosing such areas in order to ensure that such parks are readily accessible regardless of where one lives.

Parks providing regular opportunities may be spread more widely apart, perhaps within a short drive or long walk from one’s residence. Such areas are intended to accommodate dogs with special needs (e.g., especially active or water dogs that require large open areas or water access) that may or may not be readily available in one’s own neighborhood. In this way, regular areas accommodate a diversity of terrains that may be required for different breeds and types of dogs.

Occasional use areas are non-typical areas where the needs of dogs and dog owners are more heavily catered to. Such areas might boast of specific resources (e.g., dog wash facilities) that accommodate dogs and offer special services to dog owners. These areas provide dog owners with quite specific facilities for dogs that accommodate large dog populations.

back to top

In order to identify the distribution of dogs in Santa Barbara, dog registration data were analyzed and sorted by the geographic indicator of postal zip codes. Such an analysis provides a reasonably accurate overview of dog population by geographic location which, in turn, suggests where off-leash parks should be located in order to provide dog owners park access within a reasonable distance of their homes. Figure 1 summarizes these findings.