CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Dog owners would say having a dog park in their city is ideal. The city of Beeville does not currently offer a dog park to its community.
But for a local resident, Dara Carrillo, it is her mission to get her city a dog park.
Carillo was in the process of moving from Houston to Beeville early last year when she noticed a stranded dog at a convenience store. With no intentions of keeping the dog, she fell in love with her new friend, G-G.
As she researched resources for her dog, Carillo noticed that Beeville doesn’t have a dog park. The nearest one is in Portland, Kaiah Dog Park, which is 48 miles away.
Carrillo wanted her dog to have an opportunity to socialize with other dogs.
“We just finished a 2,000-mile round trip road trip to Colorado. We plan our entire trip around dog parks because we brought G-G with us," said Carrillo.
In September of 2021, Carrillo created the initiative and a Facebook group called Beeville Texas Wants A Dog Park.
Carrilo says the group grew really quickly, and it has over 230 members on Facebook. Many of the members are volunteers and city staff members who are coming forward to help.
She said they are looking for somewhere between half an acre and one acre of land for the dog park.
There are a few parks already in mind such as Veterans Park, Tyler Street park, Klipstein Park, or someone willing to donate land.
Not only is finding the perfect location for the dog park an obstacle, but also the cost.
“We could make it very basic. Anywhere from 10 to 20k. If we want to make it the dog park of our dreams it could be up to 80k. It just depends on the land we decide to go with," said Carrillo.
Beeville City Manager, John Benson told us that some concerns for a potential dog park are the spread of diseases and the maintenance a park requires.
But Benson said the benefit of putting a dog park at an existing park is that city staff already maintains it.
“These are good community conversations to have both for or against if that is the case but predominantly there is an outpouring of support for the dog park in the Beeville community," said Benson.
Carillo told us their main goal is raising money to help fund the dog park and secure some land.
Carrillo is planning to host their first dog park fundraiser 'Petriotic Pawrade'.
The event will be on July 2, from 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. clickhere to purchase a ticket.
