Last year, 17-year-old Staples student Emme Dorfman wrote a speech for a “local persuasion” unit in her rhetoric and persuasion class about an idea for a fenced-in dog run somewhere in Westport. “I have two dogs, Bode and Ozzie, and they love to run around and play, but it’s hard to let them off leash,” she tells Westport Lifestyle about the inspiration for her speech. Her teacher loved the idea, as did her parents. “We thought, why don’t we see what it would take to actually make this happen?”
One of the best things about Westport is our willingness to embrace civic participation from residents of all ages. “I know a lot of high schoolers have things they want to change, but they sometimes think it’s never going to happen,” says Emme. “I think it’s awesome that. Westport listens to the youth—we want to improve our town, and we’re the next generation.” With that in mind, she got in touch with members of the Parks and Recreation department to assess feasibility, and published a version of her speech on the site ‘06880’ to drum up interest in the concept, which she called “Dogport.” Andrew Colabella, a member of the RTM representing District 4, got in touch with Emme shortly after her essay on ‘06880’ went live. “Ever since I was a kid, there have been incidents of dogs running out of Winslow Park,” he tells Westport Lifestyle. He had been working on a dog run concept of his own, and Emme and Andrew teamed up to bring their shared vision to life. They launched a survey in collaboration with @westportmoms on Instagram to gather input from the community, and heard feedback on what worked (and didn’t work) in neighboring towns. Over the course of nearly six months, the proposal crystallized: two fenced-in areas, one for large dogs and one for small dogs, located in a to-be-determined chunk of the 29-1/2 acre Winslow Park. The runs would be self-policing, like the current park. (Rules & regulations would be enforced by Animal Control, and maintenance, including an annual five-week closure for grass care, would be done by the Parks Department.) Funding to launch the dog runs is being done privately, including by the sale of Dogport merch and donations which can be done at XXXX. At press time, the Dogport concept was still in the planning stage.
While the idea wasn’t without some pushback, Emme stresses that their hopes for Dogport go back to her original vision of having somewhere safe for pups like Bode and Ozzie, who don’t do well in open spaces. “This is for our town,” she says. “There are many people who don’t feel safe taking their dogs to Winslow. We’re trying to help all residents have an option.”