There’s a greater chance people not obeying King County parks and trails off-leash laws will be fined, following an increase in reported violations and dog fights.

Reports of off-leash dogs to King County Parks and Recreation led to the department hiring off-duty King County Sheriff’s Office deputies to conduct random patrols of parks and trails in their jurisdiction.

Though he didn’t know how many violations there were recently, Natural Resources and Parks spokesperson Doug Williams said there were enough to cause concern.

“There were a couple [of reports] just within the last month of some pretty serious dog fights that resulted in injuries to dogs,” Williams said. He added there was concern from dog owners that off-leash violations are getting out of hand.

The patrols, conducted by off-duty deputies, began the weekend of Feb. 7-8.

“[Deputies] did write up a handful of citations of off-leash dogs on trails,” Williams said.

The parks department is paying for deputy patrols, King County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman DB Gates said.

“We’re just doing it like any off-duty gig,” she said.

A violation of a leash law can result in a fine of up to $500.

One popular area patrolled over the weekend was Cougar Mountain Wildland Park, Williams said.

List of King County parks and trails

The patrols will make “random” visits to popular parks and trails, Williams said. Those patrols will be done during weekends and times of high-volume traffic.

“We want to keep a little bit of an element of surprise,” Williams said.

The patrols follow an effort made by the county to educate people on park and trail laws. Leash laws are posted at entrances throughout the park system, Williams said.

“We’ve certainly tried educational campaigns in the past and certainly have signage up,” he said.

The patrols could last for several weeks; they may go into spring, Williams said. It is not the goal to make money.

“We’re not trying to make a bunch of money by writing tickets,” he said. “We’re simply trying to get people to take the laws on the books seriously.”

Dog owners who want to give their canine companions off-leash time are asked to visit King County’s 40-acre Marymoor Park. Marymoor is the only place in King County Parks’ 28,000 acres of parks and open space where dogs are allowed to roam off-leash. Everywhere else – including along the 175-mile regional trail system and the 215-mile back country trail system – dogs are welcome, if they are on a leash at all times.