Dogs may have additional places to roam and run free under a plan being developed by the Vancouver board of parks and recreation.

“It could include more off-leash areas. That’s one possible outcome,” board chair Sarah Kirby-Yung told the Straight in a phone interview.

The first round of public consultations on a new strategy for how people can best share parks with the four-legged animals will end on October 14.

“In my time as a commissioner, I certainly received emails from people who make comments that they do need to drive to off-leash areas,” Kirby-Yung said. “Dogs are permitted in all Vancouver parks, but on-leash. And we do have a limited number of off-leash areas. But one thing I do hear from dog owners is, you know, the need to spend time and distance to get to the closest dog park.”

There are 36 off-leash areas in the city. Six are fenced and open all day. The remaining areas are unfenced, where space is shared by people with and without dogs. Many of these have time and seasonal restrictions.

Dogs aren’t allowed on beaches, except on Sunset, Spanish Banks, and Hadden Park.

According to Kirby-Yung, the park board is doing a broad review that includes things like better signage and education for dog owners.

The park board chair also said that Vancouver is looking at jurisdictions where dog parks have agility or fitness facilities for the animals.

A 2011 board report based on an Ipsos-Reid poll estimated that there were 145,000 dogs in the city. “If you consider that most of those probably come with a person,” Kirby-Yung said jokingly, “that’s a significant number of users. So we want to make sure that we have a good strategy in place to support all of our users who have dogs, and also for those folks that may not love them as much.”

Only 30,000 dogs were actually registered as licensed by the city at the time of the report.