Alpharetta's Dog Park Could Get a $100,000 Boost

Waggy World Paw Park could get some big improvements if residents of Alpharetta get behind the city's entry in the PetSafe Bark for Your Park Contest.

As of early this afternoon, 129 votes were recorded on the city's voting page, but there's competition from across the country. In this contest, you can vote twice a day starting on the city's Bark for Your Park website contest page.

"If the City of Alpharetta won this competition we would like to enhance Waggy World Paw Park by adding some new features for the pets and their owners," said Jodie Gilfillan, a recreation supervisor at the Alpharetta Community Center.  "There are two categories of money involved in the competition with the top city winning $100,000 and the runner-up cities winning $25,000….so what we can do and will do depends upon the amount of money won."

To determine the 15 finalists, PetSafe will review the availability of land and civic leaders’ support. Alpharetta has the land at Wills Park. Citizens will also be able vote every day to help their city move forward in the contest. These votes will also be counted to pick the finalists. For the best chance to become a finalist, Alpharetta needs to excel in all three of these categories.

The city has posted information about the contest on the City of Alpharetta website and on the Recreation and Parks Department Facebook page.

"We have posted flyers around Wills Park, Waggy World Paw Park and in all our recreation facilities.  Additionally, there are two big banners located in Wills Park and Webb Bridge Park advertising the contest.  Lastly, we have placed Bark for Your Park post-cards in local, pet friendly businesses for customers to pick up," Gilfillan said.

The city asks residents to tell everyone they know about the contest, including friends, family, co-workers and neighbors as well as the civic groups, clubs, schools and religious institutions you may belong to.

The 15 Finalists will be announced on June 5, when they will be asked to produce a video and continue barking for their park. The finalist city with the most votes will receive $100,000 to build a PetSafe dog park. Three runners-up and the city with the highest percentage of votes to its population will each receive $25,000. Winners will be announced on July 31.

Visit the PetSafe “Bark for Your Park” contest website for ideas on how to get the community involved.