It might have escaped your attention -- given there has been little in the way of an announcement -- but Baltimore's City Council will be holding a public meeting tomorrow on the future of dog parks in the city.

The present of dogs parks is this: There is only one. In Canton.

With other groups working to start more -- including one at Patterson Park and one at Latrobe Park in Locust Point -- city officials felt it would be wise to take a comprehensive look at the situation.

Which might be scary, or might be good.

The meeting will look at "the current status of the City's Dog Parks, as well as exploring future steps that can be taken to provide safe space for youth, families and groups engaging in recreational activities and for dog owners and their dogs."

The hearing, originally scheduled in April but postponed, will be held at 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Department of Recreation and Parks Administration Building at Druid Hill Park, 3001 East Drive.

The Locust Point Dog Park group encouraged its members and anyone else concerned with the lack of dog parks in Baltimore to attend.

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The Locust Point Dog Park Committee is hosting another fundraiser Thursday, starting at 6 p.m. at Hull Street Blues, 1222 Hull St., in Locust Point.

The group is raising money to begin construction of fenced-in area where dogs can play off leash in Latrobe Park.

The event will include $3 mojitos and sangrias, $1.75 domestic bottled beer, and free shots every time the O’s score a run.

There will also be a raffle, t-shirts for sale and an all-you-can-eat buffet for only $15 ($5 of which goes directly to the dog park.)

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The group trying to establish a dog park at Locust Point's Latrobe Park will be holding a meeting at 7 tonight at the Locust Point Recreation Center.

Anyone interested is welcome to attend and hear the latest updates on the project.

The group also has another fundraiser scheduled -- Thursday, June 19, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Hull Street Blues.

Currently, Baltimore has only one dog park, Canton Dog Park. Locust Point would be the second.

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The group trying to bring a dog park to Locust Point will host a benefit tonight at Little Havana on Key Highway, from 6 to 9 p.m.

The Locust Point Dog Park organization is more than halfway to its initial goal of raising $25,000 to start construction of a fenced in area at Latrobe Park where dogs can play unleashed.

The dog park would be only the city's second. Currently, Canton Dog Park is the only public ground in the city where dogs can legally be off leash.

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The group trying to bring a dog park to Latrobe Park in Locust Point is holding another fund-raiser -- tonight at No Idea Tavern, 1649 Hanover Street.

Tonight's "Yappy Hour" is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m., and will include raffles to raise money for the dog park, which would be the second one in the city.

The Canton Dog Park is now the only place in the city where dogs can legally play unleashed.

The Friends of Latrobe Park group, which under city rules is responsible for funding, building and maintaining the area, is trying to raise $60,000 so that work on the park could start in a few months. Its members also meet the first Saturday of the month to clean the park.

According to the organization's website, it's glad to accept any last-minute donations for tonight's raffle -- dog-related or not.

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My Michael Vick Dog Chew Toy -- that would be the "official" one (see previous entry) -- went to Thursday's night's fundraiser at the Sly Fox Pub and was raffled off in an evening that saw more than $1,000 raised to establish a dog park in Locust Point.

It, as well as its stuffed friend pictured to the right, went to a Locust Point resident who said he expected his Labrador Retriever to demolish the chew toy in no time.

The fundraiser was the third held by the Friends of Locust Point Dog Park, which has now raised more than $5,000 of the $60,000 needed to establish a fenced-in area where dogs can run unleashed in Latrobe Park.

Mutts will keep you up to date on the project, but to find out more about the initiative -- the city of Baltimore has only one other dog park, in Canton -- click here.

Dog lovers packed the Sly Fox Thursday, which offered reduced price drinks and meals to help the effort out.

While the photo to the right was taken by me, additional credit goes to Meg Kelley for loaning me her camera when my batteries died, then emailing me the photo.

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What can you do to help bring a dog park to Locust Point?

Go out tomorrow night and have a drink.

Life isn’t that easy, of course, and neither is bringing a dog park into existence, especially in Baltimore, a city that sports exactly one – the Canton Dog Park.

But a long-running attempt to bring a dog park to Latrobe Park -- a fenced area in which dogs can run and play unleashed -- is moving ahead, with a fundraiser scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at The Sly Fox Pub, 823 E. Fort Ave.

Barbara Wilson, a Locust Point resident who’s now helping lead the effort, said Thursday night’s fundraiser will be the third. So far about $3,800 of the needed $60,000 has been raised.

The group has a web site: locustpointdogpark.org

And, in a show of good faith, it's already tidying up the park -- as it will be required to do once it actually exists. Volunteers meet there every first Saturday of the month at 10 a.m.

At the Sly Fox Thursday night, all drinks will be $3; and some food items are 1/2 price. There will also be raffles and dog gear for sale. While dogs aren't permitted, the organizers urge you to bring your dog photos and stories along, and they're urging folks in the nearby Riverside and Federal Hill neighborhoods -- both dogparkless -- to join in, too.

Wilson took over the helm of the group after moving to Locust Point a year ago from Gaithersburg, where she lived next door to a dog park. “Since October, it has been full steam ahead,” she said. While the city still needs to give the plan final approval, Wilson is hoping construction can begin by spring.

The city’s application process for a dog park is an arduous one, requiring approval from the community association, and the establishment of a nonprofit “friends of the park group” that is responsible for footing the entire bill and maintaining the park. Wilson says it will be worth the effort.

"Dog parks provide a safe and clean place for dogs to interact, and they lead to happier and more obedient dogs, which in a neighborhood as tight as this one is important. It's a stress-free place for them to play."

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