New Haven Independent

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Walking into Edgewood Park, you could be caught off guard by the massive geese patrolling by the pond. They wander under trees that are thick, tall and lush. The people in the park are remarkable, too —they’re all ages and races, and they come from all areas of New Haven and Westville for a retreat into the green.
But the dogs own this place.
Although they don’t dominate the landscape, dogs at Edgewood Park are showing up in greater numbers at the fenced-in “Dog Run” area, thanks to efforts by The Westville Animal Group (WAG), a recently incorporated organization that is redefining community activism in New Haven.
On Saturday, WAG sponsored Responsible Dog Ownership Day at the park. Some two dozen tan, grey, black, brown, white and speckled pooches ran and wrestled inside the Dog Run. Meanwhile, 30 or so pet owners in white WAG polo shirts mingled at tables sponsored by the American Kennel Club, the New Haven Animal Shelter, and privately owned pet sitting and dog art businesses. Trainers were on hand to lecture and lead dogs through routines and edifying games like “Musical Sit.” (The soundtrack had to be “Who Let the Dogs Out.”) Donna Velardi, an “animal communicator,” talked about sending and receiving messages with pets —living and departed —using telepathy.
These people are definitely into their dogs. They formed WAG in April, after a decision by Yale to ban dogs (and their poop) from the atheltic fields on Central Avenue. WAG’s new president, Krista Fowles, coordinates the Animal Resources Center at the Yale Medical School, where she trains Animal Health technicians. She says that since she was a kid, all she ever wanted to do was work with animals. Now that WAG is almost an official non-profit organization in Connecticut, she says she hope she can make life better for dogs and people alike.
“Our goal is to get the park bigger, better and safer,” Fowles says, as she watches her chocolate lab, Brooke, mingle unleashed inside the Dog Run. “We want to get lights up in the park and a safe box for night time. It also floods in the spring terribly, so we’d like to get some mulch. Even 20 more feet of Dog Run fence would be great.”

Fowles says WAG’s goal is to work with the New Haven parks department on these initiatives and ultimately, to bring more people into Edgewood Park, which has had a rough reputation at times in the past.
As Fowles and her fellow dog-lovers make their passion for dogs official, they’ve also set up a slick website, where members of the community can post questions and comments about everything from Greyhound adoption to making donations for animals affected by Hurricane Katrina.
To become a member of WAG costs $10 per family and grants you full access to the website and e-mail list. It also gets you in touch with a great group of friends, and their dogs.
Wren Ronan, who lives in Boston, comes down on weekends with his dog, Savannah, to visit his friend Jack Cockerill and his dog, Millie. Cockerill is WAG’s Treasurer.
“Above all, it’s a community,” Ronan says. “WAG started as just a group of people who walked their dogs together, and it’s built into a very strong community-based and family-based situation. People do come here to meet each other. And the organization is going to try to gather the community in. This is a park that was given to them.
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