Clark County Dog Parks Discriminate Against Small Dogs. Where's The EEOC?

The Las Vegas Valley is blessed with at least 4 large dog parks that allow the dogs run free, inside of fences.

There is a City of Las Vegas dog park close to Washington and Buffalo, on the west side of town. It is connected with a series of other parks, including soccer fields and walking areas and a children's play area. It has several large areas for the dogs to run, including an area for large dogs and another for small dogs (under 25 pounds)

There is another large dog park at Desert Breeze Park, but I am not sure about the size of that park. There is a smaller dog park around Eastern and Viking, close Flamingo and Eastern. The area for the dogs are small, but the park has a nice children's area and soccer fields.

The one park we go to is Dog Fancier Park. It is located at the end of Flamingo Rd., on the east side of town. The water treatment plant, county auction yard and garage is across the street from the park. The park has 4 large to very large areas for dogs to run in. (They also have a large horse park for the horses and an area for show riding and a rodeo) They have 2 dog runs, about 50 yards wide and about 200 yards long. They have a huge large dog park, which dogs of any size visit as well. It is the size of a small farm field in Wisconsin, roughly 400 meters by 400 meters or bigger. Those 3 areas are mostly used by large dogs and small dogs who think they are large dogs in their mind. Then there is an area about 100 X 100 yards and up to about 2 weeks ago, it was designated a small dog and old crippled dog area.

But apparently, the Clark County Parks and Recreation Department thought that this discrimination against big dogs and now allows any dog in that area of the park. So, you can have a small Chihuahua and large Pit Bull in the same area. A Weiner dog and Rottweiler together. Well, it's quite possible that a big dog will eat small dog for a snack and go after a medium size dog for the main course. And for dessert, a puppy souffle.

Up until 2 weeks ago, this system worked quite well and everyone was happy. But then someone complained that the big dogs were being discriminated against and the County pulled down the small dog area sign and put up a number to call the Park Police in emergencies.

So, someone put up a sign saying we should contact the County Commissioner of the area, Rory Reid, along with the County Administrator and I believe the head of Parks and Rec.

The cynic in me thinks this is an election ploy by Reid to get the small dog owner vote in the upcoming governor's election

Small dog owners, and I am one, are not too happy. This is just a common sense issue- small dogs with small dogs and the rest of the park, several acres, can be used by the large dogs or if an owner thinks their small dog can survive with the big guys, then small dogs, as well. But common sense is something some bureaucrats are allergic to.