A man who says he was bitten twice by an unleashed dog in a Centretown park is accusing the city of operating an unsafe facility.

John Dacombe, a dog owner himself, walks to and from work through McNabb Park at the corner of Bronson and Gladstone avenues. He says he's been bitten twice by the same unleashed dog in recent months.

"When it happened again last week the owner was present," Dacombe says. "I confronted the owner who claimed it was my fault for walking through an off leash dog park, which it clearly is not an off leash dog park."

The signs at the entrance to McNabb Park say dogs are not allowed in the park from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. The signs say dogs are allowed in the park from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekends, but only if they're leashed.

The McNabb Park also has no gates, unlike an off leash dog park on Elgin Street, which is completely enclosed and secured by double fences.

Dogs only allowed off leash weekends from 6:30 p.m.-7 a.m., city says

Dacombe says he was frustrated because the city didn't seem to know what to do.

"When bylaw attended last night, [they said] they could not ticket anyone who was standing around with their dogs off leash ... because they don't know the status of the park, even though the signage has been here for years stating it's a no-dog park most of the time," he says.

Dacombe says he's considering suing the city.

"I was bitten by a dog in a park that clearly states no dogs at the time it happened and so far the city has taken no action against either that dog or any of the off leash dogs in the park. So as far as I'm concerned, the city is liable for injury to my person," he says.

In an emailed statement sent Thursday, the city says the signage at McNabb is correct. The statement added that dogs are only allowed off leash on weekends from 6:30 p.m. to 7 a.m.

There are currently no signs at the park about allowing dogs off leash.

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