IRVING PARK — “No Dogs Allowed” signs are being disregarded, made fun of and vandalized by some visitors to the Horner Park Natural Area.
In mid-August, someone attached a “Thanks, Karen” sticker to one of the signs. A month later, that sign and 10 others were “ripped down,” said John Friedmann, vice president of stewardship for Horner Park Advisory Council, which installed the signs this summer. As recently as Sunday, a reporter saw a metal “No Dogs Allowed” sign off its post and sitting in the grass.
“They are even breaking off metal signs,” Friedmann said in a text message. “Not easy to do. Someone has a lot of rage to support his/her sense of entitlement out there.”
The Park District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the establishment of the natural area on the west bank of the Chicago River six years ago as part of a $5.6 million ecosystem restoration project. The project included the planting of more than 10,000 native prairie grasses, wildflowers, shrubs and sparsely placed oak trees.
The natural area and trails cover about a dozen acres, or a fifth of Horner Park, between Montrose Avenue and Irving Park Road.
Pets are prohibited within the natural area, which is teeming with wildlife, from readily visible squirrels, rabbits, bees and dragonflies to beaver, mink, snapping turtles and migratory birds.
“Birds and other animals see dogs and cats (even small or friendly ones) as predators,” according to the Park District website. “Aside from directly impacting wildlife from barking at, chasing, or killing wild animals, studies have shown that the presence of a dog, even if it is well-behaved and on a short leash, can alter wildlife behavior more than a human walking through the same space alone. They may run or fly away, stop feeding, or even be deterred from entering areas where dogs have left their mark.”
The “No Dogs Allowed” signs posted at entryways to the natural area and along the trails at Horner Park are a mix of official Park District signs and unofficial ones installed by the park advisory council.
Despite the signs, some neighbors said dogs are a common sight in the nature area at the park.
“I do see dogs out here, and it aggravates me,” said Irving Park resident Cindy Gaffney, who regularly walks the trails. “The dogs are a pet peeve of mine. It’s a really, really nice bonus to have this solitude, this piece of nature, here in the city, and we don’t need dogs out here peeing and defecating.”
The volunteer-run Horner Park Advisory Council formed a dog-sign subcommittee in spring 2023 to “re-engage” the Park District to beef up signs for the natural area, according to minutes from that meeting.
In March, a volunteer counter for the council estimated that 10 percent of the natural area’s trail users were accompanied by dogs, almost all of which were leashed. That prompted the council to make “a huge push” to add temporary signs, which the district OK’d, according to the council’s meeting minutes.
In June, the council’s communications committee voted to spend up to $750 of council funds to add metal signs on heavy posts to the natural area, according to the minutes.
Two months later, some of those signs were removed or vandalized, Friedmann said.
The damaged signs were “not official park signs,” Park District spokeswoman Irene Tostado said in an email to Block Club, though they were labeled “Chicago Park District” at the bottom.
The district is now looking into installing “approved” signs in the park’s natural area, Tostado said.
“The Chicago Park District works with communities to provide spaces for a variety of outdoor activities, including creating places for dogs to engage in off-leash leisure play,” Tostado said, noting that Horner Park has an enclosed dog park.
Other dog owners take their pets to the middle of the park, where they run around unleashed with other dogs.
Last week, there were 16 “No Dogs Allowed” signs — including one with a fading sticker on which someone drew a picture resembling a cat — posted at most but not all of the entryways to the natural area. Eight other metal posts were sticking out of the ground, but the signs were missing. One damaged post had a sign zip-tied to it and was leaning against the split-rail fence that borders the half-mile-long west side of the natural area.
Though none of the signs at the natural area mentions penalties, Chicago dog owners face a base fine of $300 for not keeping dogs restrained in public places or up to $1,000 if there is property damage, plus higher fines and criminal penalties for dog attacks. In May, an off-leash dog attacked a young girl in Horner Park.
Tostado said the Park District works closely with volunteers and stewards to communicate the rules to park visitors.
But enforcement is the responsibility of the police. The district lacks authority to issue tickets or citations, Tostado said.
Seth Captain, a Bowmanville resident who regularly walks his dog in the main area of Horner Park where leashed dogs are allowed, has resisted the temptation to enter the natural area.
Though Captain obeys the signs, he said he had “no idea” why dogs aren’t allowed in the natural area. He suggested that a brief explanation, “as pithy as possible,” be added to the signs to educate park visitors.
But Uptown resident Eduardo Solis, who discovered the natural area and trails while walking by Horner Park recently, isn’t so sure more detailed signs — or a giant “No Dogs Allowed” sign, as he would suggest to the Park District — would make a difference.
“Some people don’t really care. You can’t expect everyone to obey the rules,” he said.
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