Medfield Designates Off-Leash Areas for Dogs at State Hospital

Medfield Select Board voted 2-1 to officially designate two areas of the Medfield State Hospital grounds as off-leash areas for dogs, following a lengthy discussion at its meeting of October 15, 2024.

North Field, an area of state hospital grounds that abuts Dover, is now officially an off-leash area, after having been used as such, unofficially for some time.

Additionally, the area that is bounded by Hospital Road to the south, Cottage Street to the east, South Street to the north and Service Drive to west, is the second off-leash area.

Dogs are required to be on-leash on all other areas of the state hospital grounds.

Select Board Chair Eileen Murphy and Member Gus Murphy, who both spoke of their personal experiences of walking dogs, voted in favor of establishing the off-leash areas. Select Board Member Olser Peterson voted against the designation.

The decision followed lengthy conversation among the Select Board members, with input by those in attendance - including members of the town's Dog Control Bylaw Committee. The board heard residents speak of wanting to avoid unwanted encounters between people and off-leash dogs, and their current confusion as to the designation of off-leash areas. Concerns were raised over the communicability and enforceability of areas to be designated, ensuring public safety, and whether areas designated as off-leash may have to change when development takes place on the state hospital grounds, as is expected in the next few years. 

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