WACO, Texas — HOT Dog Park in Waco officially closed on Monday, Sept. 9.
The HOT Dog Park Board said the land owner informed them that the land had been sold and the park was closing just the day before, on Sunday, Sept. 8.
Rae Snyder has lived in Waco for two years. Part of her daily routine is taking her dogs to the park.
"We had absolutely no warning," Snyder said. "When I first visited Waco, having the knowledge that there was a park here was one of the reasons that I felt comfortable moving here."
According to the board, they were informed by a posting at the park that read "HOT Dog Park is closing September 9th. The land has been sold. City of Waco needs to open and operate a dog park."
The board says they did not know the land was up for sale and would have provided an advanced notice on the closing if they had known.
It's left dog owners like Snyder frustrated with the city because they say there are no other big dog parks.
"I blame Waco," Snyder told 6 News. "I blame the City of Waco because it is their responsibility as a city to provide a dog park. It's very telling for the city to be spending millions of dollars on the reengineering of downtown for tourists, and yet they can't have the necessities for the residents here."
Jonathan Cook, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Waco, says this was not their decision.
"We were made aware of the news like everyone else," Cook told 6 News.
Cook says the city has multiple park projects underway.
"We are focused, capacity and budget-wise, on finishing out these projects that we have before we launch any new projects," Cook said.
For now, the city encourages people to bring dogs out to parks and open green spaces.
"While we don't have plans for an exclusive dog park, we always are ready to listen," Cook added.
There is a board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10 and there will be more social media posts on their Facebook following the closure.
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