Lawndale Dog Park

This is no longer a dog park! It will soon be a recreational park… No dogs allowed. I guess it was for the best. No one like to see a plot of dirt.

Our dog Rex was killed here today. The City maintains and regulates a dog park but does not maintain its fences or enforce rules. A witness told us he was there the day before and the gate was unlocked then. The big dog/​small dog fence or separator was not secured/​locked. When you enter a dog park you expect a certain level of safety, included working fences. I didn’t think to walk the perimeter of the huge dog park to ensure the city did their job adequately and locked all fences. We as owner have other safety concerns is dog parks, and nonfunctioning gate is not one of them. This large dog nudged his head through the gate that divided big/​small dogs and it opened!!! he mauled my beloved Yorkie in the small dog area. The city workers told me the dog would NOT get quarantined because he has no priors and the death is considered dog-​on-​dog. My 8 pound Yorkie killed by an unprovoked 100+ pound pitbull is dog-​on-​dog. The city workers (3) three of them stated repeatedly and very clearly that this was «not the city’s concern, it’s a civil matter». Although they acknowledged and took pictures of their fence not being secured. Their Rules state: «Rules of the dog park» — «No aggressive dogs. Aggressive dogs must leave at once! No questions, no excuses!» The city did not enforce their rules; they did not offer a standard quarantine period. They seemed empathetic but did absolutely nothing but take a report. Only after I was yelling about the fact that the gate still was wide open did they offer to close the park for the rest of the day until their fence was secured.
This death was 100% preventable with responsible dog park maintenance, the city of Lawndale failed in the simplest task, why even offer and present two areas when there is no division being maintained??? The owner had no control over his aggressive dog and couldn’t get his dog off of my dog for 5 – 10 mins after my dog was already dead in his mouth. The pitbull’s owner had to use the parks metal poop rake to beat his dog. He struck his dog with all his strength repeatedly with this metal rake before it would release my dog. This attack, violence and death occurred within a few feet from my 9 year old daughter who was screaming at the top of her lungs. I did remove her as best as I could but had to wait until my husband/​cops/​animal control to arrive to grab Rex. The city was aware of violence and still deemed this dog A-​okay to leave with his owner.
Today this aggressive and dangerous neighborhood dog found my dogs death entertaining, tomorrow a neighborhood kid all while the city maintains their «not the city’s concerns» position!

This «dog park» is so depressing. Nothing but rocks and dirt. Compared to other dog parks I’ve been to, this is the saddest one. Only come here because it’s the closest when I want quick exercise for my puppy.

I have never taken my babies to a Dog park so I was a little skeptical about taking them. Best advice let your dogs loose as soon as you get there, as pets tent to get intimidated and more aggresive towards dogs without a leash. Let them loose and walk away but keep a close eye on them to see how they react let them know its ok and to go play. When I first decided to take them I google around my area but the closest park was in Redondo Beach (not so close) but it did just as good. I happen to stumble acrossThe Lawndale Dog Park (2 minutes away from home) and I have been taking them there ever since. Pros, the park is very clean, they have 2 seperate areas small dogs and big dogs both have water fountains. Cons, the park is a bit lonely as it doesnt help my babies because I take them there to interact with other Dogs and get away from their usual backyard buddies. I really hope this helps the park get more attention as it is in need of more tail wagging friends :)