Quakertown dog park proposed

Quakertown dogs soon may be free to cast off their leashes and run around sniffing whatever they want -- at least within boundaries.

Borough leaders in the coming months will look into setting aside parkland specifically for pooches and the people who love them.

Councilman David Zaiser, who raised the idea this week, said having such a dog park could be an important social outlet.

''It's a good idea for dog owners to be able to get to know dog owners and have a fenced-in area for dogs to be able to run free,'' he said.

The idea isn't all about appeasing dog lovers, either.

Zaiser -- a confirmed cat person -- said dog owners who fail to clean up after their pets leave the worst kind of deposit in local parks.

''It's hard to walk around some of the parks because of dog waste,'' he said. ''A dog park encourages someone to pick up after the dogs.''

Quakertown leaders plan to let a new park planning committee examine the idea. That committee, which is being formed primarily to determine how to fold the old Krupp foundry property into the borough's park system, isn't expected to start meeting until next month.