As East Honolulu residents celebrate the long-awaited opening of the Hawai'i Kai Dog Park today, animal advocates say more needs to be done to expand the number of dog-friendly spaces on O'ahu.

"We do have a lot of public parks where dogs are allowed on leashes, but so many more are not, and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason why some are and some aren't," said Elaine Dobashi, president of Hui 'Ilio, an association of residents who met while walking their dogs and helped bring the Hawai'i Kai Dog Park into being.

The park is the third city dog park built on O'ahu and the first with a partnership between the city and a nonprofit community organization.

Over the last four years, Hui 'Ilio and the city put together about $200,000 in funds, manpower and in-house resources to design, build and landscape the 1.5-acre space at the corner of Keahole Street and Kalaniana'ole Highway.

"It's a win-win situation for everybody," city Parks Director Lester Chang said.

The enclosed park allows dogs to run around off their leashes, which, according to animal advocates, is far healthier for dogs than walking tethered to a leash in a neighborhood.

Hui 'Ilio members, who Dobashi estimates raised about $103,000 for the project, say the park is great for dog owners in East Honolulu, but more spaces that accommodate animals are needed elsewhere.

"This island is not a very dog-friendly island," Dobashi said. "We're all working to try to change that."

According to a study conducted in 2005 by Ward Research, 40 percent of O'ahu households own a dog. In the past few years, that number has "definitely gone up with the population, especially with (people moving to) the Leeward and Central O'ahu regions," Kawehi Yim, Humane Society spokeswoman, said on Friday.

However, of cities across the United States, Honolulu is "probably ranked in the lower half" in terms of accommodating animals in parks, attractions and restaurants, Yim said.

WHERE TO GO

Besides the three city dog parks, there are two privately owned off-leash parks on O'ahu — McInerny Dog Park at the Humane Society and the Bark Park in Kahala. Dogs are allowed on leashes at more than 30 community parks on O'ahu, including at Sandy Beach.

The state's decision this week to allow dogs on leashes in Ka Iwi Scenic Shoreline Park is significant, she said. After banning pets from the park's Makapu'u Lighthouse trail in May, the state reversed its decision when more than 60 people turned out in protest at a neighborhood board meeting on Tuesday.

The Humane Society is not necessarily advocating for more off-leash parks, Yim said, but would like to see more existing parks allow dogs on leashes.

The organization will press policymakers and elected officials to take households with animals into account in planning new structures and new communities, she said.

It also wants to address an administrative rule overseen by the state Department of Health that does not allow dogs in or around restaurants, other than service animals, because of sanitation issues.

"For many people, their pet is their family," said Vanessa Golding-Fox, the Humane Society's community advocacy liaison. "When they go out, they want the opportunity to have their pet with them."

ADVOCATING FOR DOGS

On Thursday, Dobashi and Hui 'Ilio vice president Carol Suyderhoud met at the Hawai'i Kai Dog Park with five dogs between them. With the help of Madison, Jasmine, Luci, Suzi and Lani, they tested the new water fountains and benches, and made sure there were fresh plastic bags in a green dispenser attached to a fence.

Hui 'Ilio has 11 directors, about 100 active volunteers and about 800 people on its mailing list. Dobashi said she hopes the group's partnership with the city will serve as a model for other organizations looking to put dog parks in their neighborhoods.

"There has to be a community group to show people that there is a need in the community — it can't be just one person," she said. "Our goal is to help other groups that are trying to do what we just did."

But between finding a location for a park and the large amount of funds that must be raised — normally as much as $75,000 — even accepting half of the responsibility in a partnership with the city can be hard for a community nonprofit.

Other dog advocacy organizations have run into problems, such as the Windward Dog Park Organization, which has been trying since 2004 to establish a dog park in Kane'ohe.

After a long struggle with access issues at the proposed site, many members "just got burned out" and the organization dwindled to just a handful of active participants, said president Lois Ishihara.

"There is a need for a dog park (on the windward side)," she said, adding that she plans to rekindle the effort next month.

Meanwhile, the Ala Wai K-9 Playground Association is asking for a temporary dog park while the 32,000-square-foot space it was promised for a park in 2006 is being used to store equipment for the city's Ala Wai sewer project.

Besides these efforts, Chang, a dog owner himself, said there are no plans right now for other dog parks in Honolulu.

"Every community wants one, but we can't do that at this point, with all the other things we have to do," he said.

The biggest challenge is finding a location for a park, he said. Neighbors' concerns about traffic and noise have also been an issue.

He said the city is willing to consider future private-public partnerships, however, and would like groups not only to develop the dog parks but also maintain them.

"If other community organizations want to step forward, we will help them," he said.

The opportunity is there for other groups that want to seize it, Dobashi said.

Dog parks are "just not a high enough priority for the Parks Department or for the city," she said. "If we want something in our own communities, we have to be willing to work for it."