Denver Animal Control has caught the renegade German Shepherd-like dog squatting at the Park Hill Golf Course.
Park Hill Dave, also known as Mad Max by some neighbors, has resisted city workers’ attempts in recent weeks to bring him down. (Ed. note: Right now, no one is actually sure of Dave’s sex. He could be a girl Dave.)
He has been dodging neighbors for even longer, steering clear of humans by 25 yards when they walked the park, those in the know told Denverite on the condition of anonymity, citing a fear of city retribution.
Last Thursday, the city put out a humane trap loaded with treats, and gave Park Hill Dave a chance to get comfortable going inside.
Over the weekend, the city worried Park Hill Dave would be cold in the low temperatures and snow. They put blankets on the trap to keep him warm.
On Wednesday morning, city workers put a steak in the trap and loaded the spring. And within an hour, he walked inside and was caught, Denver Parks and Recreation director Jolon Clark told Denverite as he drove Park Hill Dave to the shelter.
“It’s possible somebody lost Dave years ago, thinking Dave had died,” Clark said.
He is very much alive. Clark sent Denverite a photo of the dog, chilling out in the trap.
What’s next for Park Hill Dave and the golf course?
The city plans to take Park Hill Dave to the Denver Animal Shelter. He has two very old collars. The shelter will see if he has a microchip and attempt to contact his owners.
If that doesn’t work, the owners will have five days to claim him.
“Our first hope is that we can somehow reunite Dave with the humans that Dave once had,” Clark said. “After that, we have talked to the folks [at the animal shelter] to make sure that if Dave does not have a human family, we'll have the first shot at putting Dave to work out in a park, since that’s clearly where he or she would prefer to be.”
Neighbors report Park Hill Dog, aka Mad Max, is not the only animal wandering the course.
A few years back, rumors spread through Northeast Park Hill that there might be a mountain lion living on the course. Eventually, most agreed it was just a very fat yellow cat.
“There’s also Sly, the friendly fox, Sam the sassy squirrel and his 2,000 cousins, Harry, the predator hawk, a gaggle of black-billed magpies, northern flicker woodpeckers and black-capped chickadees,” one neighbor wrote Denverite.
Those types of animals are commonly found at large parks citywide.
The city is planning to turn the 155-acre land into Denver’s fourth-largest park. And you can help determine its future.
The former golf course is still owned by developer Westside Investment Partners.
Soon, if all goes as planned, it will be owned by the city in a land-swap deal for a similarly sized parcel near the airport.
The land swap is expected to be considered by Denver City Council later this month. If all goes as planned, the city will open the park, for limited use, by summer.
Denver Parks and Rec is already soliciting ideas about the future of the park. The design firm Sasaki is leading the visioning and planning.
On Thursday, the city will host a mini-fest and brainstorming session at Axum Park — near Colorado and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards — from 4:30-6:30 p.m. There you can weigh in on what you want to see at the new park and enjoy races, basketball, slacklining and climbing.
