Camden County opens $775,000 dog park in Cherry Hill

CHERRY HILL – At a recent ribbon-cutting here, many in attendance totally ignored the ceremony.

Instead, they wandered aimlessly, interrupted speeches, and regularly sniffed one another.

But that’s acceptable behavior for the opening of a dog park — in this case, a $775,000 creation of Camden County’s parks department.

“We’re going to make dogs happy, which is what we’re all about,” Jeff Nash, a county commissioner and the owner of three dogs, told a small crowd in Cooper River Park in Cherry Hill.

In a short speech, Nash noted the park’s attractions: separate fenced areas for big and small dogs, agility equipment, a pavilion, benches and a picnic area.

“We’ll also incarcerate certain dogs,” Nash said to laughter when a barking frenzy threatened to drown out his words.

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The park, with sprawling green fields of artificial turf, replaces an older, smaller facility near the dead end of North Park Boulevard.

In addition to uprooting the original park, workers cut back trees and brush to offer a dog’s-eye view of the adjacent Cooper River.

“This was the worst dog park before, but its community (of dogs and owners) was the best,” said Edward Maule of Cherry Hill.

“What they’ve done here is great,” he observed as his dog, Olive, raced by.

“This is exactly what we were thinking about, what we hoped for,” said Thomas Masullo of Collingswood, who advocated for the new park.

Having separate areas for dogs of different sizes “means more dogs are going to be able to get out,” he observed at the April 25 event.

“More dogs will get training, and time to be around each other.”

“These are places where our community comes together," Masullo said. "And we all connect on one thing, and that is the love of our four-legged friends."

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Camden County opens $775,000 dog park in Cherry Hill