Jamaal Barksdale returned to Meridian from his service as a healthcare specialist station at Ft. Drum, New York and noticed something missing for his canine companions: a dog park.

“It’s something that we’re lacking as far as parks and recreation in Meridian,” Barksdale said. “My wife and I, we just got a second dog and we’d like to exercise our dogs without imposing on somebody else.”

At Ft. Drum, New York, Barksdale said his wife regularly visited the nearby dog park with other women. 

“They’d just gossip and the dogs would play just like kids would,” Barksdale said. “And the kids would play on the playground… There are dog parks in Hattiesburg and Jackson, why not here?”

To gauge interest in the community, Barksdale said he started an online petition at change.org/p/meridian-ms-needs-a-dog-park. As of Wednesday afternoon, the week-old, informal petition had 78 signatures, with some on Facebook saying they’d prefer to sign a physical petition. 

“It’s been a very positive response. I’ve even received a few ideas for locations,” Barksdale said. 

Barksdale said that dog parks raised home values by making neighborhoods more appealing. 

“It makes the city more attractive and lets people know that there’s something to do there,” Barksdale said. 

Amanda Snowden, the president of the Meridian Board of Realtors, said she’s never had a homeowner request a dog park in her decade of experience but that a dog park could be beneficial.

“I think it could increase the desirability of neighborhoods, depending on where they put the dog park,” Snowden said. “But it’s hard to say if it would affect home prices because Meridian has never had a dog park before.”

Current city ordinances require that all domesticated animals have rabies vaccination tags on collars around their necks. Meridian also has a leash law that requires animals to be restrained by a fence or leash. 

Barksdale said the online and physical petition, addressed to the City Council, Mayor Percy Bland and Kelvin McGruder, the director of Parks & Recreation, would show the city’s administration the level of community interest.

“As a private citizen, I’m limited in what I can do,” Barksdale said.

Barksdale said he hadn’t formally approached the city administration because he wanted to receive community input first. Online, he suggested naming the park after the recently deceased Lauderdale County Sheriff Department’s K9 Deputy Aron “to honor the memory of a faithful and beloved member of the canine community.”

Aron died in a department vehicle after his vehicle’s warning systems failed to deploy on a hot day in early July, locking him inside.

 Lauderdale County Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun hadn’t heard of the dog park’s proposed name, but thought it would be a kind gesture.

“I think that would be very kind and would honor the service of our canine in a positive way,” Calhoun said.

Kelvin McGruder, the director of Parks & Recreation, couldn’t be reached Tuesday or Wednesday for comment or to explain how a dog park could be established in Meridian.