Corpus Christi officials are working on getting it's latest dog park opened to pet lovers in the heart of the city.
It also has two more in the works, but these projects aren't cheap, which is why there are only two of the city-owned dog parks open, even though we have 194 parks in town.
3NEWS spoke with Kelsey Thomas, who was taking her Great Dane Gracie for a walk Friday morning in the Sherwood Park neighborhood. She said that sometimes they go to the Bayfront to use the Water's Edge dog park but said it's not worth the worry.
"I love taking her to the Bayfront but there's always homeless people that are really sketchy and I feel like something closer to the neighborhood would be safer," she said.
Kelsey said she was happy to hear about that and ready to use it. But the dog park won't be ready until January at a cost of $400,000.
"Yes it's an expensive process and we're trying to do what we can with the money that we have to make these exciting for our community," said Corpus Christi Parks & Recreation Director Robert Dodd.
According to Dodd, the popularity has spurred the city not only to put in this dog park at Sherwood, but there's one planned for Flour Bluff at a cost of $375,000. Another one is going in on the northwest side of town at West Guth Park, which has a tab of $500,000.
Residents such as John Mora said they'd like to see dog parks in their neighborhoods as well.
"They're real important because you know sometimes you can't just let a dog you don't have a place at your residence to just let your dogs run free," he said.
Fellow resident Amber Whillhite said proximity is another reason she would like to see more dog parks in her area.
"If there was a dog park closer to me we would definitely use that because then I could let him run off his leash and not have to worry about that," she said.
Dodd said there are 194 city parks around town. He said that while the dog facilities are popular with residents, the price tag for a dog park is quite high.
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