Dogs have a newly spruced-up and permanent play area at Moulton Meadows Park in Laguna Beach.
On Thursday, Feb. 29, dozens of pups and their humans checked out the new play area featuring new benches, fencing, a new landscape, and an asphalt path leading along the frontage road to the park.
The park is the second location in the city where the public can take their dogs to play off-leash in a fenced area. The other is the dog park along Laguna Canyon Road.
Laguna Beach is known for being pet friendly and has among the largest numbers of pet ownership in the county for a town of its size, about 23,000, said Jim Beres, the Police Department’s civil services administrator. As of December 2023, there are 1,860 licensed dogs in the city.
“It’s a higher disposable income and easier for residents to own and maintain pets,” he said.
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At 7,500 square feet, the new park replaces a smaller 4,000-square-foot space that opened in 2019 as a trial. The idea then, said Tom Perez, assistant director of public works, was to see how much community interest there was in having the area available for the neighborhood.
“It was very well received and we made it permanent,” Perez said, adding that residents have been walking by this week excitedly waiting for the grand opening.
“People were spirited and lively and the dog energy was high,” Perez said of Thursday’s debut.
A $300,000 state grant paid for the new amenities.
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