COLA - Citizens for Off-Leash Areas in Seattle, Washington

06/20/2025

🐾🎉 Calling all dogs (and their humans)!
Join us Sunday, June 22 at 2 PM for the fluffiest, most feel-good event of the weekend: the Dog Parade at Fremont Fair! 🐶💫
We’re celebrating pups of all shapes, sizes, and styles as they strut their stuff through the Fair.
✨ Register your pup today via the link in bio or sign up day-of at the JustFoodForDogs tent, we can’t wait to see you there!

10/16/2024

🚨 Community Meeting Alert! 🚨

Seattle Parks & Recreation is hosting two important meetings about the upcoming Off-Leash Area (OLA) developments at West Seattle Stadium and Othello Playground! 🐕🌳

📅 Dates:

• October 23, 4-6 p.m. at West Seattle Stadium
• October 24, 4-6 p.m. at Othello Playground

Without community feedback, Seattle Parks will continue to develop very small OLAs that are insufficient for the population of dogs in Seattle. This is your chance to provide feedback, ask questions, and help shape the design of these new off-leash areas!

01/13/2024

Our friends at Seattle Animal Shelter are hosting a vaccine clinic this coming Thursday, January 18. This is the first in a series of clinics. Please share with those in need!

12/22/2023

200 cubic yards of engineered wood fiber was laid down at Westcrest this week. This area had seen very little use since coarse gravel had been installed during the drainage project in fall of 2022. Initial impressions are very positive! We will see how it holds up in hopes that it’s a solution we can use at other OLAs.

07/26/2023

Seattle Parks and Recreation is deciding where to build two new off-leash areas, using $3.4 million in funding that dog owners rallied for in last year's Parks District funding process. Read more about how to be heard in our latest newsletter at https://conta.cc/3OtO2NB or access the survey directly at https://tinyurl.com/seadogsurvey (be sure to ask for more space!). Respond by July 31.

05/05/2022

Seattle is planning the budget for the next six years of the Parks District funding. Sending an email only takes a minute, at it goes a long way towards adequate funding for our dog parks.

In 2014, Seattle voters formed the Seattle Parks District, which supplements the Seattle Parks & Recreation’s (SPR) budget by over $50 Million per year. This money is allocated on a six-year cycle. In the first cycle (2015-2020), only about $100,000 of the $50 million per year in Parks District mo...

11/17/2021

What's going on at Westcrest? The main off-leash area is closed through spring 2022 for significant drainage work. While the long closure will be painful, we hope the end result is worth it. The work includes regrading, swales, resurfacing and underground drains. This should improve access and rainy season conditions for years to come.

In the meantime, the small/shy dog area is still open and a small temporary off-leash area is available on the south end. This closure highlights the lack of available off-leash space in West Seattle, as the nearest large (1+ acre) off-leash areas are Jose Rizal (Beacon Hill), Genesee (Columbia City) and Grandview (SeaTac).

This project is many years in the making. More details are available at https://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/projects/westcrest-park-drainage-improvements. COLA was represented in this process by steward Stevo and steward/board member Janice.

05/04/2021

Today is the day to GiveBIG! This is Washington’s annual fundraising drive for local nonprofits, and we need your support. And thanks to matching funds from our board, donations to COLA through GiveBIG up to $2750 will be matched dollar-for-dollar!

COLA has worked to make Seattle dog parks better for over 20 years. Your donations allow us to continue our maintenance partnership with the city for our existing dog parks, and help us speak up for increased funding and more off-leash space.

Citizens for Off-Leash Areas (COLA) establishes and enhances safe and enjoyable exercise and recreation areas for dogs and dog owners, provides education and builds community in Seattle neighborhoods.

04/09/2021

A message from Genevieve, our friendly and hard-working OLA steward at Jose Rizal dog park:

"Hi neighbors, I am the volunteer park steward for the Jose Rizal off leash dog park. Over the last year I have been working with the city, local organizations and volunteers to get this park safe for dogs. I can proudly say as of today it is! Please come and utilize this beautiful space, enjoy the gorgeous sunsets, and let your dog run free in this fully fenced LARGE area. I can’t wait to see you all there!"

05/05/2020

Because the need to give is bigger than ever, the annual GiveBIG Washington virtual charity event is two days instead of one. Thanks to matching donations from the COLA board, donations up to $2,450 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

For over 20 years, COLA has been working towards better Seattle dog parks. Your donations help us maintain Seattle's current off-leash space, and to speak up for new dog parks. We hope that you'll also be donating to nonprofits that are helping those affected by the ongoing crisis.

Thank you for your support!

Citizens for Off-Leash Areas (COLA) establishes and enhances safe and enjoyable exercise and recreation areas for dogs and dog owners, provides education and builds community in Seattle neighborhoods.

04/10/2020

To discourage gatherings, Mayor Durkan is closing 15 major parks this weekend. The closures of Golden Gardens, Magnuson and Woodland parks will include the off-leash areas at those parks. The off-leash areas will reopen on Monday, but the parking lots will remain closed.

Alki, Arboretum, Cal Anderson, Carkeek, Discovery, Gas Works, Green Lake, Golden Gardens, Kubota Garden, Lincoln, Magnuson, Seward, Volunteer, West Seattle Stadium, Woodland SPD and SPR Crews and Ambassadors Will Be Onsite to Remind Individuals to Comply CDC and DOH Recommends Individuals to Wear Cl...

02/28/2020

⚠️ Seattle Parks and Recreation is actively preparing a $50M per year budget proposal to last the city for the next 6 years, which means 2020 is critical to expanding and improving our off-leash areas.

The last funding plan only allocated $106k per year towards off-leash areas -- a meager .2% of available funding, even though Seattle's dog parks are used by 25% of residents! 🤯

Help us take action now to request a FAIR SHARE for off-leash areas:

✏️ Complete the quick public survey and emphasize that improved & expanded off-leash areas will cause you to visit parks more, and that you think a significant portion of the budget should be set aside for off-leash areas.
https://seattle.surveymonkey.com/r/SEAParkDistrict

🗣️ Attend an upcoming community meeting and make a public comment in support of Seattle off-leash area funding.

Monday, March 2 6pm-8pm -- Delridge Community Center
Thursday March 5 6pm-8pm -- Lake City Community Center
Saturday, March 7 10am-12 -- Van Asselt Community Center

➡️ Spread the word! Please share this post and let those you meet at your local dog park know about the public survey.

We need every dog lover in Seattle to engage in the process. This opportunity will not come around again until 2026!