Neighborhoods are encouraged to submit nominations for $50,000 grants to build new dog parks in their Knoxville or Knox County neighborhoods.

The June 30th deadline to nominate your Knoxville or Knox County neighborhood for a new dog park is quickly approaching. More than 300 people have nominated their neighborhoods for a $50,000 grant to build a new dog park so far at knoxdogparks.com.

Through a partnership with Knox County, the City of Knoxville, and The Boyd Family Foundation, a total of 10 dog park grants worth $50,000 each will be awarded to five city and five county neighborhoods who apply and meet the criteria.

Residents have until June 30th to nominate their neighborhood at knoxdogparks.com. The nomination period will be followed by a social engagement period from July 1st – 24th where neighborhoods are encouraged to publicly share on social media why their neighborhood needs a dog park using the hashtag #KNDP.

“We are thrilled to see so many people engaging in the process to improve their neighborhood for both pets and residents,” said Randy Boyd, of the Boyd Family Foundation. “We’ve seen that dog parks are not only beneficial for dogs, they can improve the health and overall well-being of their owners as well.”

Studies show that people’s ability to walk to a dog park is the highest factor in determining the amount of use for the park. Randy and Jenny Boyd are working to make Knoxville and Knox County the most pet-friendly community in America and Knox Neighborhood Dog Parks is their effort to make sure more local residents and their dogs have a place to go that’s more convenient and close to home.

With the addition of these 10 dog parks, Knox County would rank number one in dog parks per capita in the nation. Knox County is currently ranked 29th in the nation.