LEWES, DE -- Organizers of the Historic Lewes Farmers Market are asking the City of Lewes to amend their lease to have the ability to ban dogs within market boundaries at George H.P. Smith Park.
A sizeable section of the park is typically bustling with shoppers and their dogs every Saturday from May to September for the Historic Lewes Farmers Market Saturday event. However, executive director Eleanor Shue says they've seen a sharp increase in the number of dogs at the event in the last few years.
"We averaged, you know, a hundred dogs a market, and on peak summer days, we had over 170 dogs in just the four hours that the market was in," Shue stated.
Along with the rise in dog presence came frequent incidents of dog fights, dog bites, dogs lunging at people, and dogs relieving themselves nearly everywhere, Shue tells WBOC. She emphasized that these incidents pose a public safety and health issue, fueling her team's decision to request permission from the city to ban dogs in the market area.
Some market goers are fully supportive of the proposed ban.
"Unfortunately, not everybody has good control of their dogs and they don't, uh, pay attention so the dog can either get involved with something or hurt somebody else. My dog stays at home and I walk her separately," said Mary Letellier, a resident of Lewes.
However, others expressed discontent with the potential prohibition of pets from the property.
"Lewes is a dog-friendly community and I've heard reports that up to 50 percent of the homes here have dogs so it's kind of weird to take that out of such a big equation for the average home of a person in the area to go to a place with their dog, go for walk," remarked Mackie Parsons, another resident of Lewes.
The proposed ban does not include certified service animals.
The request is on the Lewes City Council's meeting agenda for Monday, February 12th. The council will discuss and potentially vote to allow or deny organizers permission to ban dogs.