Jacksonville, Ill. Is PetSafe’s 2015 Bark For Your Park Contest Winn

Amy Tokic
by Amy Tokic
Many entered, but only one could win $100,000 to build a new dog park in their community. This year’s grand prize winner is Jacksonville, Ill. – we can’t wait to see the new park!


The votes have been counted in PatSafe’s 2015 Bark For Your Park Contest, and the winner is the dog-loving community of Jacksonville, Ill. They’ll receive $100,000 to build a new dog park – and that will get you a lot of chew toys, poop bags and water bowls!


Jacksonville, a town in Illinois with a population of 19,466, received the most votes – a total of 54,727 – out of the 16 finalists in PetSafe’s fifth annual Bark For Your Park Contest.


Related: PetSafe’s 2015 Bark for Your Park Finalists Announced


More than 1,000 communities were nominated for this year’s contest, which launched in May. In June, PetSafe announced the 16 finalists, which were broken into three categories according to community size based on population: large, medium and small. In addition to Jacksonville’s $100,000 grand prize, the runner-up city in each small, medium, and large population category also won $25,000. The Bark From Your Heart city, which had the highest percentage of votes to the community’s population, also won $25,000.


Related: Study Shows Parks For Pooches Leading The Pack In Growth


The 2015 Bark for Your Park Contest runner-ups (and winners of $25,000 each) for each category include:


  • Watkinsville, a town in Georgia with a population of 32,808, was the runner-up in the large city category with a total of 30,280 votes.
  • Merrimack, a town in New Hampshire with a population of 25,494, was the runner-up in the medium city category with a total of 16,582 votes.
  • Fort Gratiot, a town in Michigan with a population of 11,108, was the runner-up in the small city category with a total of 31,013 votes.
  • Epworth, a town in Iowa with a population of 1,860, was named the Bark From Your Heart winner with a total of 27,504 votes.


Congrats to all of the winners!

Amy Tokic
Amy Tokic

Amy Tokic, Editor of PetGuide.com, is a passionate animal lover and proud pet parent of Oscar, a Shih Tzu/Chihuahua cross, and Zed, a Japanese Chin. Her love of animals began in kindergarten, when she brought her stuffed dog Snoopy into class with her every day. Now, she writes about her adventures in pet ownership and tirelessly researches products, news and health related issues she can share with other animal enthusiasts. In her free time, Amy loves perusing used book and record stores, obsessing over the latest pet products available and chasing squirrels with wild abandon (a habit attributed to spending too much time with her pooches).

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