Lions Club celebrates the completion of Pride Paws Park

The Toccoa Lions Club recently celebrated the completion of its Pride Paws Park, located on County Farm Road, just behind the Toccoa-Stephens County Humane Shelter.

In just over a year, the Toccoa Lions Club, with the help of several volunteers, installed two dog runs and cleared-out three walking trails all on a slice of unused county-owned land.

Though the idea started in 2015 after Lion Jack Barnard witnessed volunteers working with the animals along the side of County Farm Road.

After securing a 99-year lease from the county, the club began working towards its goal of providing a safe area for walking and socializing the shelter’s many dogs.

During the ribbon cutting ceremony, current Lions Club President Tim McLaughlin told WNEG News about the new park.

“We’ve got to do something for the animals, and the shelter,” McLaughlin said. “So Lion Jack (Barnard) started looking into this park, and we found out we could lease this land from the county. The county said ‘let’s do it.’ So we signed the lease for 99 years, and its paid for. We paid for it in March of last year. This is going to be a long and enduring love-affair for the lions and the animal shelter, that’s why it’s called Pride Paws Park.

McLaughlin continued to detail the three walking trails found inside the park.

“Loop C is going to be for the expert walkers, its down, up, and around with holes, it’s going to be the painful trail if you want to train hard,” McLaughlin said. “A nice easy stroll will be Loop A, and the intermediate will be Loop B and everything starts and ends here. Hopefully, by this time next year, B will be open, and C will be ready as well.”

Toccoa-Stephens County Humane Shelter Executive Director Jeff Roberts explained how grateful he and his staff are to have the new park.

“Most people realize that this would be far greater to walk the animals in this environment,” Roberts said. “A lot of our animals get stressed out because they are in a caged environment, there’s barking all around. So being able to come back here will be a great enhancement for them.”

Roberts continued to add that the park will give potential adopters an opportunity to see the animal in an environment where they have room to play and exercise; thus, will improve the shelter’s adoption rate.

The Pride Paws Park is now open to the public to walk pets or let them run loose in one of the fenced-in pens. The park is just a block off Prather Bridge Road on County Farm Road directly behind the new animal shelter.