By Jennifer Misthal
“This is her dog run – well, she thinks it is. She was raised here,” Ron Niles said of his 208-pound dog sitting at his feet.
Forest Park is home to a luxury for dog owners, what visitors have dubbed “K-9 Korral,” the biggest dog run in Queens. The site was a former horse corral for the Police Department, K-9 Korral member Paul Toomey said in a phone interview. When the city eliminated the Police Department's funding for the facility, it was taken over by the Parks Department, but no one knew quite what to do with the site, he said.
Now it's almost three years since the dog run was formed and this “bark-friendly” section of Forest Park draws almost 200 visitors on weekends, Niles said. Membership is on the rise, too. Niles said about five new members a week participate in the dog run.
The Parks Department opens the facility in the mornings and Niles, who lives nearby in Glendale, closes it in the evenings. In addition to the high volume on weekends, the dog run is most populated at night, when dog owners are home from work.
“If you go up there at 5 and 6 o'clock, it's a whole social thing between the dogs and the people. It brought the community together through common interests,” Forest Park Administrator Debbie Kuha said in a phone interview.
Like any other community organization, members of the K-9 Korral plan events for their own enjoyment since the dog run also has to please its two-legged friends.
“The dogs socialize and the people socialize,” Toomey said who with his wife, Dee, is responsible for the K-9 Korral's Round Up, the facility's official monthly newsletter.
Members participate in a Hallowe'en costume party, an Easter egg hunt and in various fund-raisers. On June 26, the dog run sponsored Pawz-A-Poppin' Crafts Days, which raised more than $250 for the park's maintenance. Dog owners even get together to see dog movies.
“It has turned into a social club for people as well as dogs,” Niles said. “Everyone here has a great relationship. It's really surprising.” The dog run currently attracts a diverse group of people from across the borough. “We have people coming from all over and everyone gets along,” Niles added.
The dog owners' friendliness extends beyond the fenced area of the K-9 Korral. Niles said the organization has a pleasant relationship with the Parks Department. “The Parks Department has been great to us,” he said.
Councilman Dennis Gallagher (R-Glendale) has also helped secure resources for the park and is now working to get water fountains for the dog run water fountains.
Not surprisingly, the dog run has become a dumping ground for unwanted dogs, which are turned over to “Bobbi and the Strays,” a not-for-profit organization in Ozone Park.
“Give these (unwanted) dogs. She finds homes for them. They're not destroyed,” Niles said of Bobbi Giordano, who runs the group.
Reach editorial intern Jennifer Misthal by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 173.
