Canine owners who say they’re dog-tired of waiting for the City of Saskatoon to create more off-leash parks may finally have reason to rejoice.

Saskatoon’s planning and operations committee approved a recommendation to expedite the process to create an urban off-leash dog park in the Caswell Hill neighbourhood and in the southwest area of the city near Montgomery Place.

“These are neighbourhoods who have done considerable work in recent times to getting an off-leash dog park,” said Saskatoon’s manager of leisure services Cary Humphrey.

Originally, the city recommended that a public consultation process for the parks begin in September, but Humphrey said it’s likely that parks will be established by early fall.

“The next step now is for some of my staff to consult with residents in those two neighbourhoods,” said Humphrey, adding that the city will begin to look for someone to clear the underbrush in those areas and to erect a fence as soon as possible.

“That’s typically a tendering process,” said Humphrey. “So my best estimate is a six-to-eight week process,” he said.

Although the exact locations of the dog parks have yet to be determined, Humphrey mentioned the green space behind the Mayfair swimming pool in Caswell Hill and a reforestation area southwest of the city as potential candidates.

In addition to the creation of those dog parks, the committee also approved the administration’s recommendation to transfer the responsibility of off-leash areas from the corporate services department to community services in an effort to “advance the development” of the dog parks.

“The development of the [off-leash recreational areas] has not advanced as fast as the Administration had hoped in recent years,” explains a report to the committee.

City council is expected to vote on the recommendations on Wednesday.

fsuen@rawlco.com

Follow on Twitter: @fanyeesuen