When reviewing the comments as a whole it's apparent there is a general misconception of how the Dog Beach works so we'd like to start off with a short refresher, or DFA 101.
First off, Montrose Beach is on Chicago Park District (CPD) property. It is regulated and maintained by the CPD, not the City of Chicago, but like Chicago has to abide by Cook County laws, the Park District has to follow both City and County regulations, as well as having it's own set of rules, and it's own governing board.
Funding for the Park District comes from a variety of public and private sources including, but not limited to, Cook County Property Taxes. Tax revenues are down everywhere, and the Park is hurting for money. The direct effect of that can be seen in the cut back of Life Guards, shortening summer swimming hours, and cut backs on trash pickup including eliminating weekend pickups. Additionally the CPD is no longer provide matching funds for Dog Park construction or improvement projects.
Montrose Dog Beach is an official Chicago Park District DFA (Dog Friendly Area). Mondog is the community advisory group that organized and petitioned for the beach's DFA status. Dog Beach patrons have to follow Park District rules which are located on the big green signs at the entrances of all DFA’s. These rules are enforceable by Park District Security, and to some extent Chicago Animal Control. Park District Security is a mythical department with a secret phone number and they never seems to come when you call them, but we are told over and over to call them if there are problems.
We also have a DFA tag rule that was instituted by Cook County Animal Care and Control (CCACC). It requires CPD to maintain a DFA Tag system to prove dogs are immunized. The CPD gets the money from the 5$ tag fee which mostly covers the cost of producing and administering the tags. As far as we are aware, none of that money goes back into the DFA’s in any discernible amount. Currently Cook County Animal Care and Control are the only ones who can enforce and ticket for not having a DFA tag. It’s been several years since CCAC has shown any interest in enforcing their tag rule, and because of their budget problems there’s no reason to believe this year will be any different.
The Chicago Police Dept. tend to enforce rules that overlap City laws, like being off leash outside the DFA, people fights, not cleaning up poop, etc. Unfortunately dog fights in a DFA are usually seen as subjective, dog are property under the law, and dog parks are "use at your own risk" so calling the police often does not give the desired results. They usually don't ticket for anything unless there have been complaints.
The CPD is in the business of providing recreation opportunities for all Chicagoans. They strive to make the Parks as accessible to everyone as possible. Mondog is not permitted to make rules that specifically exclude people beyond what's in the rules already. We can't ban children. We can't ban intact male dogs or specific breeds. We can't ban "stupid" people. What we can do is make safety rules that apply to our special circumstances, like no food on the beach, and no pooping in the water.
The CPD Life Guards are on the beaches during the summer swimming season, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. They are charged with keeping people safe and enforcing general beach rules. It is unreasonable to expect them to anything more than that. They are not trained to deal with dogs, nor do they have the power to enforce any DFA rules.
Last but not least, the fence. The same CCACC ordinance that makes us buy dog tags also forced the CPD to fence in the Dog Beach. Mondog agreed to pay half the cost of the fence to keep the Dog Beach open. We have been fortunate in that the CPD has graciously continued to extend and maintain the fences as we continue to collect donations to pay down our financial obligation that resulted from fencing in Montrose Dog beach. There is no financial incentive for CPD to keep our fences in tip top shape, and they are in no hurry. This work is done by the CPD's maintenance and trades department. We report it to them and get put on the repair list. Spring fence work is typically done in May before the swim season starts. We expect that to be the same this year. Mondog does minor repairs to the gates. We can't fix major fence damage like what occurred this winter. We will not support running the fence further into the lake because of safety issues, water quality, and the constant maintenance it would require.
Watch your dogs, train your dogs, or go somewhere else.
