Harry Kroll said he realized something was wrong when his dog Charlie would not stop licking his feet after a trip to Hamlin Park. “He had been licking his paws so much that it created a wet spot on the bed, and that’s when we saw that all four of his paw pads had ripped and were bleeding to some degree,” Kroll said.
That account has become the clearest example of a broader complaint in Roscoe Village, where several owners say the recently renovated dog area at Hamlin Park is hurting dogs instead of helping them. The dispute matters because the redesign was intended to improve the space, but neighbors now question whether the new surface is safe for routine off-leash use.
Kroll, who lives about three blocks from the park at 3035 N. Hoyne Ave., said he and his wife had regularly taken their 3-year-old dog Charlie there since moving to the neighborhood in 2023. After the dog area reopened this spring, Charlie went back a handful of times before coming home with torn, bleeding paw pads on all four feet, Kroll said. He said he and his wife treated Charlie at home after consulting their veterinarian and do not plan to return unless changes are made.
Other owners described similar problems. Greg Zimmerman, a longtime user of the Hamlin Park dog area, said gravel-filled concrete cutouts scatter rocks across the asphalt and have made the space harder to use. He said one of his dogs, Winnie, now enters the park gingerly and quickly wants to leave.
Jesus Echezarreta said his dog Odie tore the paw pads on one back foot in June while running near the tennis court fence and making quick stops and turns on the asphalt. Veterinary documents he provided said a veterinarian trimmed away torn paw pad tissue, cleaned the wounds and monitored healing.
Those reports followed a redesign that replaced the previous pea-gravel surface with an asphalt-and-gravel layout. Neighbors told Block Club that the earlier surface was softer on dogs’ paws, even if it came with flooding and maintenance issues.
The Chicago Park District said the redesign had other goals. Spokesperson Irene Tostado said the agency was aware of the concerns and had scheduled a meeting with the Dog Friendly Area Committee. She also said the project was designed by Park District staff and funded through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
Tostado said the older dog area allowed gravel to spread onto nearby sidewalks and did not provide an accessible or durable circulation route. She said the updated layout was meant to improve accessibility, lower maintenance needs and better manage drainage while keeping pea gravel in designated dog activity areas. In a statement, Tostado said, “At the Chicago Park District, the safety and well-being of our community members and visitors is our absolute highest priority.”
Official Chicago Park District information on dog friendly areas describes them as designated off-leash spaces inside parks and beaches. The agency’s park page for Hamlin Park confirms the site includes a dog-friendly area, but the available public pages do not spell out surfacing standards for a renovation like this one.
The volunteer-run Hamlin Park Advisory Council said it has heard complaints about gravel migration and reports of paw injuries that owners believe are tied to the redesign. The group said it does not design, maintain or operate the dog area and does not have authority to change the layout.
Instead, the council organized a cleanup and installed three brooms inside the dog area so visitors could sweep loose gravel back into designated sections. We view these as temporary measures intended to improve conditions while we continue advocating for long-term solutions, the advisory council said.
Emails reviewed by Block Club show at least one neighbor warned the Park District in May about safety concerns after that person’s dog injured a paw there. The same resident followed up after a July 21 Hamlin Park Advisory Council meeting, saying another dog had suffered deep lacerations. As of this week, that resident said neither email had received a response.
There is at least some general veterinary context for the type of injuries owners described. VCA Hospitals says foot pads absorb shock and provide traction, but torn pads need prompt attention because walking can reopen the wound and delay healing. The same guidance says dogs that limp or repeatedly lick their pads may have torn, punctured or burned foot pads.
That does not establish what caused each Hamlin Park injury. But the reports from Kroll and Echezarreta are consistent with surface-related paw trauma involving running, stopping and torn pad tissue, based on the veterinary descriptions that are publicly available.
For now, the conflict remains unresolved. Owners who used the park regularly say they are holding back, while the Park District says it plans to discuss the complaints and next steps with the Dog Friendly Area Committee. What would you do if your dog were in this situation? Share your thoughts in the comments.
By Sarah Mitchell — 8 years as a local-news reporter covering animal welfare, shelters, neighborhood disputes, and public-safety pet stories.
