Runway Dog Park

Runway Dog Park in Oak Creek has been used as an off-leash dog park for the past 15 years, however, although the dog park has been managed by Milwaukee County Parks, the land is owned by Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, which means it is under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight.

As part of a recent review of a new Mitchell International Airport master plan, the FAA determined that all airport-owned land must only be used for aviation-related activities. As a dog park is not a qualifying activity according to the FAA, continued use of the dog park would jeopardize federal funding for the airport. The dog park, therefore, will be closed indefinitely on November 1, 2022.

We understand how frustrating it is to lose a much-loved amenity, so we have included funding in the 2023 parks budget for a study to look at our parkland in the county, to identify any other sites that could be a suitable replacement for Runway Dog Park.

A public input mapping tool was available and collected ideas for future dog parks from August 3rd until February 1st.