After 5 years of planning, fundraising, and rallying, building a local dog park is now becoming a reality for the community of Friendswood, which was just awarded $25,000 through PetSafe® Brand’s Bark for Your Park™ program. Friendswood, Texas is one of 25 cities nationwide that was selected to receive funding to build an off-leash dog park through this year’s Bark for Your Park grant-giving program.

Five years ago, the City allocated a small part of the budget for a dog park, but the funds were not enough to cover the cost of fencing, let alone other necessary amenities. Caden Fischer, a local Life Scout, has been working with the City to build the park as his Eagle Scout project. The high school freshman has been a true advocate for the park, attending all city meetings and hosting a variety of fundraisers to raise more than $11,000, which combined with the PetSafe Brand grant, will now be enough to complete the dog park.

“The original budget proposed for the dog park would only allow for half of the designated land to be used due to the high cost of fencing,” said Heather Whitty, recreation manager for the City of Friendswood. “Thanks to the $25,000 grant from PetSafe Brand, we can now afford to fence in the entire 1.6 acres of land, nearly doubling the size of the dog park and also include additional amenities that were originally planned for the future due to our previous budget constraints.”

The new PetSafe dog park will be located at Old City Park and will feature amenities such as separate large and small dog areas, pet waste stations, water fountains for dogs and their owners, shade structures, and benches. Construction of the new park is expected to begin by early 2017.

“We were extremely impressed with the amount of enthusiasm and dedication the community has shown for building a local dog park,” said Willie Wallace, CEO of Radio Systems® Corporation, makers of the PetSafe Brand. “We are honored to be able to help the City of Friendswood build a dog park that the community’s members and pets can enjoy for years to come, while also assisting Caden Fischer to achieve his rank as an Eagle Scout.”

PetSafe Brand developed and launched the nationwide Bark for Your Park program in 2011 to help communities build their own off-leash dog park. This year, PetSafe Brand restructured the contest into a grant-giving program and increased the number of awards from five to 25, with five communities – including Friendswood – receiving $25,000 new park awards, 10 communities receiving $10,000 park upgrade awards, and 10 communities receiving $5,000 park maintenance awards. Recipients will be awarded a combination of funds as well as commercial-grade dog park equipment from UltraSite®, a PlayCore Company.

Friendswood is one of 5 communities in the Southwest region to receive a grant through the PetSafe Bark for Your Park program. Bedford, Texas and Santa Fe, New Mexico received $10,000 grants to fund upgrades for their local dog parks, while Brenham, Texas, and Yuma, Ariz. both received $5,000 grants to help cover park maintenance costs. PetSafe Brand will reveal the remaining 20 communities receiving dog park grants in a series of announcements over the next several weeks, and will also be hosting a celebration event in each region throughout the months of September and October.

About the PetSafe® Brand

PetSafe® Brand is an industry leader in the development of innovative pet behavioral, containment and lifestyle product solutions. PetSafe® Brand is owned by Radio Systems® Corporation and headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn. For more information, visit www.petsafe.net or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.