T-L Photos/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Jersey, therapy dog at the Belmont County Courthouse, is laid back Wednesday on hearing the news that Sheriff David Lucas is planning to bring a dog park to the county. Lucas will be reaching out to the community for donations.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Four-footed and furry friends in the area may have a place to play in the coming months.

Belmont County Sheriff David Lucas visited the board of commissioners and announced Wednesday that he is spearheading a plan to bring a dog park to the area.

Lucas made the announcement while accompanied by Loki, a therapy dog and the sheriff’s office unofficial mascot, and courthouse therapy dog Jersey.

Loki gave his feedback during the announcement, with excited yaps.

Lucas said he and his wife have been lifelong dog lovers and caring for Loki has made him more aware of canine needs.

“A lot of people have the love for dogs, and ever since I got Loki a little over two years ago, on our vacation we used dog parks,” he said. “I came up with the idea of (having a park) in Belmont County. There’s one over in Wheeling. I think it’s a good thing for the community, for the people, that we give something to them.”

Lucas and the Belmont County commissioners are looking at a likely site.

“It’ll be out behind the Belmont County Health Department off of Ohio 331,” Lucas said, adding that he will seek funding through donations.

“It’s not going to be no cost to the county, except the county is going to give us the location to put the dog park,” Lucas said. “Hopefully within the next year we’ll have the dog park up and running.”

He said the amount of acreage for the future park has not yet been determined.

“There’ll be two different areas,” Lucas said. “One for small-to-medium dogs and the other will be for medium-to-large dogs, and we’ll also have water there for refreshment and also kiddy pools there where they can cool off, and probably a pavilion on each side so the dog handlers can get out of the sun.

“Once we get out there, we’ll do a financial study, what we project and what we think to raise to have it done,” Lucas said.

He added the space behind the health department is ideal.

“It’s centrally located. It’s right off of Ohio 331. It’ll be easy access in and out, so I think it would be really convenient,” Lucas said. “It’ll all be fenced in. … When the owners come, they can just let them run and play.”

He added that travelers with a dog in their vehicle could also stop and let their pets stretch their legs.

“I think once we get this up and … get it all worked out, I think we’re going to see a lot of Belmont County residents, people going through,” he said.

“We’re going to give back to the community, to the people,” Lucas said, adding that there is a significant need for such a park. “We go out throughout our county and look. There’s a lot of people, dog owners … they don’t really have a place to take their dog. They have their front yard and that’s it.”

Lucas said the park could also be a useful project for young people in the Explorer Program, which gives hands-on experience to youth ages 14-21 with an interest in law enforcement.

“That’ll be one of their projects, will be helping out and overseeing the dog park,” Lucas said, adding there are seven participants in the program so far.

“We appreciate you coming to us with this idea. We think it’ll be a great idea,” Commissioner Josh Meyer said. “The county has a lot of acreage behind there, so we thought that was the best place to start the dog park. The sheriff’s going to spearhead that, and we wish him all the best.”

In answer to a question from Commissioner Jerry Echemann, Lucas said he believes this will be Belmont County’s first dog park.

“I think you came up with a great idea,” Echemann said.

Lucas said he is also reaching out to work with entities such as the animal shelter and humane officers.

Lucas said 100 percent of donations will go to the dog park. Residents wishing to learn more can call the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office at 740-695-7933.