Cracking down
City steps up leash enforcement amid takeover of animal control duties

Consider yourself warned: there’s a new dog sheriff in town. On Jan. 1, the City of Durango took over animal control and protection duties within city limits from the La Plata County Humane Society, which had fulfilled the task for more than 20 years.

Under the new arrangement, the City’s open space rangers will be responsible for enforcing the animal protection code, which includes everything from issuing off-leash citations to responding to reports of barking dogs, animal cruelty and vicious animals. They will still work with the LPCHS for sheltering.

“We’re going to enforce. We’re going to be looking for dogs off leash, and that’s the law, that’s what we’re here to do,” City of Durango head Open Space Ranger Tosh Black said.

But first and foremost, rangers will be working on taming the wild west of the Animas River Trail, which, as of late, has become a hotbed of human-dog conflicts, among other things. (Looking at you, speedy two-wheeled scofflaws. Alas, a story for another day.) Although complaints from trail users have been on the rise for years, the decision to run patrol duties over to the city was cemented by the death of a man last spring when he swerved to avoid an off-leash dog on the River Trail and crashed.

Since then, the city has dedicated one full-time ranger to patrol the River Trail, either by bike or a side-by-side, while the others also dedicate at least part of their time to the busy corridor.

“One of our rangers, his entire job is the Animas River Trail. His whole job is to just go up and down the river, looking for dogs off leashes,” Black said. “That’s his job 40 hours a week. And he said it could even be more. He’s so busy; he has his hands full.”

Black has been in his position, which falls under the auspices of the Durango Police Department, for 2½ years. In all, there are five rangers, with two more scheduled to begin this week whose sole purpose will be to patrol the city’s trails and open spaces for leash infractions. After months of a “howdy neighbor” warning campaign, there is now a zero-tolerance policy for off-leash dogs on the River Trail. Owners will be issued citations on the first offense. 

For now, Black said the City is taking more of an educational “warning” approach to letting users of Durango’s natural-surface trails know about the new, stepped-up enforcements. In fact, some trail users may have already encountered Ranger Scott Mango in his “weighted vest” (actually a law enforcement flack vest, although it is quite heavy, Black said) on the Sky Steps or at local parks.

  “Myself and Ranger Mango are going to be out on city trails looking for off-leash dogs right now. It is kind of a warning thing, but we are going to be giving out citations,” Black said. “It’s going to be over 100 miles of trails we’ll patrol. We’ll usually be on mountain bikes when it comes to that.”

And just what, pray tell, do these citations consist of? Well, for the first infraction, the fine will be $40 ($60 if the dog is not spayed or neutered.) A second infraction will be $80 ($200 if not spayed or neutered; $120 is refundable if the animal is spayed/neutered within 60 days of getting the ticket.) And the third infraction? Go directly to jail, and do not pass go. Just kidding – but it does entail a mandatory date with the judge. In fact, the real kicker is that all citations, even the first, require a mandatory court appearance (for the human, not the dog).

Sorry, don’t kill the messenger.

“Any dog on the Animas River Trail who’s off leash is going to have a nice little citation. And these are municipal citations, meaning that they have to go see a judge. No ‘ifs’ ‘ands’ or ‘buts.’ It’s no joke,” said Black. “We’re doing that, because we’ve really had a campaign of warning. We’ve done a lot of warnings. For a few months, we were actually just giving nothing but warnings.”

And lest you think you can weasel your way out with a flimsy excuse, just try. Black said he’s heard it all. By far the most popular is, “my dog would never do that,” although “my dog is friendly, don’t worry” is another popular refrain.

“That’s actually happened before. Someone told me, ‘My dog is friendly, don’t worry,’ and all of a sudden, the dog goes and bites this guy on a skateboard,” Black said.

Tosh said the goal of the new policing campaign is not to put a damper on everyone’s fun but rather to make sure your dog doesn’t put a damper on anyone else’s fun. Dogs, like people, have various temperaments and demeanors, with some wanting to party while others prefer to be left alone to sniff the flowers.

“We’ve had a lot of dog fights. You know, dogs have different personalities. They’re like us. Some like to be left alone. Some love to have fun; some are very social,” he said. And lest you think Black falls into the “dog-hater” category, he’s got a wolf-hybrid of his own, who just so happens to fall into the anti-social camp.

“My dog doesn’t like other dogs. So, when dogs approach wanting to have fun and be nice, she wants nothing to do with it. And that’s the problem … some dogs are fine meeting other dogs, and some are not. So we have fights. We’ve had injuries. We’ve had people getting bit on the Animas River Trail,” he said. “So we’re really taking it seriously now. We’ve had a lot of complaints – and justifiably.”

According to the La Plata County Humane Society, in 2024, officers responded to 1,366 calls, including 30 vicious animal incidents, 38 dead or injured animals, 51 bite cases, 78 barking complaints, 179 cruelty and neglect reports, 216 stray or abandoned pets, and 471 dogs off leash. Within the city in 2025, there were 50 officer-initiated dog-at-large offenses and another 23 reported through dispatch, for a total of 73. This is more than a 62% increase from dog-at-large offenses in 2024 – mostly due to the addition of two open space rangers.

The City budget for seven open space rangers is roughly $523,000 a year, including benefits. Bear in mind, in addition to dog duty, the rangers are also responsible for policing River Trail e-bike speed demons as well as homeless camps, and the budget does not include costs for larger camp or biohazard cleanups. However, $289,883 in annual funding previously contracted to LPCHS for Animal Protection officers will be redirected back to the City to help offset the costs.

In addition to all this, Black said once the weather starts to warm, rangers will also start patrolling Lake Nighthorse as well as Oxbow, looking for open containers and dogs off leash. (And this should probably go without saying, but ignoring the “no dogs” sign at the Oxbow Preserve will be an automatic citation; no get-out-of-jail free card.)

“We are really paying attention to the Animas River Corridor, and we’re doing that for a lot of reasons. We’re doing that to keep our beautiful Animas River clean,” Black said.

But, on any given day, rangers could be just about anywhere. “We could be hiking one day. We could be on an emergency call for a mountain biker that’s been injured the next,” Black said. “And then we’re going to be in city parks. We’re going to be all over the trail systems.”

With this stepped-up surveillance, just what is a rambunctious Rover to do? Well, for starters, Black pointed to the miles of nearby Forest Service and BLM trails, where dogs are allowed to frolic off-leash if under voice control (excepting winter closures, of course.) And there is, of course, the dog park (which Black and rangers patrol at least twice a day), and there are plans for a new one to open at Durango Mesa Park sometime in 2027. 

In addition, the City recently identified Rank Park, near the High School along the River Trail, as a potential new off-leash area. However, City Public Information Officer Tom Sluis said there are two concerns with that location: its proximity to the high school; and a water-collection system that goes from a spring under the park to the fish hatchery, which potentially could be contaminated by dog poop. “Given those concerns, for right now, that project is in a holding pattern,” Sluis said.

Some residents have also proposed something similar to the City of Boulder’s “Voice & Sight Tag Program,” which allows dog owners to undergo online training, dog registration and proof of reliable recall and non-aggression to gain off-leash privileges in open space and mountain park areas. However, Sluis said while not off the table, this, too, offers challenges. “The City did look at Boulder’s approach that includes a certification program and medallion for animals that have been demonstrated to be under voice control, but Boulder is also a much larger area compared to Durango,” said Sluis. “There are some significant operational concerns that we would have to address, such as staffing requirements before such a program could move forward.” 

So, in the meantime, Black – who has a background in teaching – considers public education and adherence his biggest asset.

“Right now, all I can really say is keep your dog on a leash,” he said.

Oh, and please pick up your dog’s poop – that includes making sure the little baggy actually makes its way into the trash can.

“I cannot tell you how many times people will watch their dog poop, put it in the baggy… and then leave the baggy. We find it after a week, and I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s the poop that I saw a week ago.’”

And who knows? Maybe instead of spreading the ’do, you’ll be helping to spread the love.

“I’ll even tell people ‘thank you so much for picking that poop up. I really appreciate it.’ Or I’ll say ‘thanks for keeping that dog on a leash,’” Black said. “It makes people happy and, you know, I have seen a big difference in dogs being on leash. That’s huge.”