The Bedford Dog Owners Group plans over the next couple months to finish the first part of the $293,000 project — a phase that includes installing fenced-in enclosures and woodland trails at Beaver Dam Park.

"I think they (the dogs) want a place to run, and people want a place to hang out and enjoy their days," said Patricia Barry, president of the group known as Bedford DOG.

The first phase of the dog park, to be located on 17 acres off Beaver Dam Road, calls for building two enclosed areas where dogs can frolic off their leashes. One fenced-in area covering about 1.5 acres will be dubbed "Canine Commons" and split into two sections — one for dogs of all sizes and another for small dogs.

A second enclosed area, covering about an acre, will provide a place to train search and rescue dogs. Other canines can use it for agility exercises.

Additional phases will include renovation of a meadow and creation of a memorial gateway to honor search and rescue dogs and therapy dogs that served at the World Trade Center site following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack, according to Bedford DOG. Those parts of the project will be completed as funds become available.

The memorial gateway, which dog park supporters hope to have completed by next spring, will include a statue of Bear, a highly decorated golden retriever who died about a year after his search and rescue work at Ground Zero. The new dog park will be called the Bedford Canine Tribute Park.

Lloyd Kushner, who was walking his puppy, Chloe, in Katonah on Monday, said he plans to take the bearded collie to the new park.

"If you go into all the stores (in Katonah), you can see people bring their dogs to work," said Kushner, a 61-year-old Somers resident. "People love animals, and people like to have a spot that's safe to bring their dog."

Just up the road on Katonah Avenue, Paul Vlachos was walking Kodiak, his 4-year-old Siberian husky. Vlachos said he's been waiting for the park to open.

"Dogs are not meant to be on leashes all their life," said Vlachos, 35, of Katonah. "They-re like people. They enjoy their freedom."

The park won't be limited to Bedford residents, said Marilynn R. Glasser, the town's director of leisure and and human services. Dogs have to be leashed when entering and leaving the facility, and all dogs have to have their shots and identification tags.

The Bedford dog lovers group is raising the remaining $70,000 to finish the park's first phase. Bedford DOG has raised about $140,000 from private donations, in-kind services and a $50,000 U.S. Forest Service grant providing money so the new park could be developed as a "tribute to the working dogs of 9/11," according to the dog lovers' Web site.

More information about the Bedford project and upcoming fundraisers is available at www.bedfordDOG.org.

Reach Sean Gorman at sgorman@thejournalnews.com or 914-666-6481.

The Bedford Canine Tribute Park:

• Expected to open June 30.


• Will cover 17 acres.


• Two fenced-in enclosures will be installed so dogs can roam leash-free.


• Will have a series of woodland trails.


• A memorial gateway will be built honoring search and rescue and therapy dogs that served at the World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Copyright, The Journal News 2002