It's a dog day afternoon at Brookhaven dog park

BY TIMOTHY ROBERTSON | Special to Newsday

April 27, 2008

Savoring the scents of a new place to explore, Buddy Love, a 4-year-old golden retriever, scampered on the dirt and around the pine trees of Brookhaven's dog park, which had its grand opening yesterday.

His owner, Cathy Loria, a former pizzeria owner from Middle Island, promised her dog that the two would come to the dog park every day since they live across the street in a co-op complex.

"We can't let [the dogs] run around there, and he's usually only around small dogs," Loria said while encouraging Buddy to play with the scores of other dogs.

Brookhaven's first dog park officially opened yesterday after a year of planning and pushing by a local dog organization headed by Gina Lewis, of Patchogue, and inspired by her Jack Russell terrier, Little Dude.

Suffolk County Unleashed petitioned the town to open a dog park after Lewis traveled with Little Dude to Florida, a "dog-friendly" state with many dog parks, she said.

"I came back here and there was nothing for them to do. I was determined to get a dog park going, and I found out that [Brookhaven Councilwoman Connie Kepert] wanted one, and I managed to connect with her," Lewis said as she happily watched her terrier scurry around the pen.

The dog park consists of a fenced-in three-quarter-acre pen for small dogs, a 2 1/2-acre pen for medium and large dogs, and soon will have water fountains for the dogs built.

"We were looking for a location that didn't need too much. We liked this site because we were able to use the contours and we didn't cut down too many trees because we wanted to use some," said Jim LaCarrubba, the former Brookhaven parks commissioner and the dog park's designer.

The parks department will continue to improve the park by adding a watering station and finding a way to keep the dust down, LaCarrubba said.

For Kathy and Randy Lee, the new park served as another way they could spoil their 8-year-old English mastiff named Mr. Chops.

They rescued Mr. Chops, who now weighs 165 pounds, from a shelter where he wound up after someone found him wandering the streets of Wyandanch at 95 pounds.

"He's a big mush and he loves the car rides to the park," said Kathy Lee, a stockbroker's assistant from Farmingville.

Mr. Chops, like all of the other dogs, went to the dog version of the DMV to get his Pooch Pass, which gives the dog access to the park for a year and mandates that all dogs are licensed with the state, have all their shots and are spayed or neutered.

"This way you know all the dogs are up-to-date with their shots and they're safe," Lee said.

"Last night we told him that we were going to the park, and his ears perked up. He is so excited."