How did it all get started?

In March of 2009, Silverdale Dog Park founder Anita Bates distributed a petition to establish a dog park in Silverdale, WA. To her surprise, she collected 1,209 signatures in only 3 months. With the signed petition and guidance from Danny Horovitz, Kitsap Dog Parks Board Member, Anita was able to get support from Kitsap Dog Parks, Inc. and meetings with County Commissioners Steve Bauer and Josh Brown.

On April 27th, 2009, Anita met with the Commissioners with regard to establishing a dog park in Silverdale. It was agreed that prior to having a signed agreement with the County, a stewardship would be created to help establish and maintain the dog park.

Silverdale Dog Park volunteers held their first community meeting on May 13th, 2009 at Naturally 4 Paws. The SDPS Board members were elected on September 1st, 2009.

The SDPS is currently building a foundation of committed volunteers to assist in holding fundraisers and rallying the community to establish a safe, clean and fenced area for Silverdale dogs to be unleashed and socialize with other dogs.

Silverdale Dog Park Stewardship Mission Statement

To enrich the quality of life in Silverdale through the responsible establishment and maintenance of a recreational area where dogs and people can interact in a clean, safe and pleasant environment. More specifically, our goals are:

• To promote the health and welfare of companion animals and their owners.
• To work in close cooperation with the Kitsap County Parks & Recreation to plan, promote, establish, operate, maintain, regulate, police, and otherwise work to create and support a public off-leash dog park in Silverdale.
• To view the dog park as a community project in partnership with Kitsap County Parks & Recreation, local businesses, and area civic organizations that satisfies the needs of dog owners and non-dog owners alike.

Community Meetings

The Silverdale Dog Park Stewardship holds community meetings quarterly at Naturally 4 Paws. Meetings run for one hour; questions and comments are welcomed at the end of the meeting. Please check this web site or Facebook for the date of the next meeting.