A leading pet travel and lifestyle brand has just named Point Isabel Regional Shoreline as the best dog park in California. BringFido, a website and mobile apps that connect millions of pet owners around the globe with more than 500,000 pet friendly places, published a roundup of the best place in every state to let your best friend loose:

“Your pooch is invited to join the half million canines who visit Point Isabel Regional Shoreline Dog Park in Richmond every year. This huge space is one of the most epic dog parks in the U.S. and boasts more than 50 acres of land on the eastern edge of San Francisco Bay. Explore several looping trails that hug Hoffman Channel and offer scenic overlooks of the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin County and Brooks Island. After rolling around in the mud, Fido can clean up at the on-site Mud Puppy’s Tub and Scrub.”

Point Isabel Regional Shoreline’s mini forest got some Tender Loving Care on Earth Day weekend from 18 volunteers including PIDO members and the UC Berkeley Prytanean Women's Honor Society. The hardworking crew mulched some two dozen young trees along a large swath adjacent to the bike path.

East Bay Regional Park District supervisor Scott Possin provided wheel barrows, shovels, rakes, hoes, and rich landscaping know-how. As the trees grow, they will soften the industrial view of the U.S. Post Office’s bulk mail distribution center. Thank you to PIDO board members Jon Gross, Mary Barnsdale, Priscilla Hoffman, Penny Green, and Chris Matthews for organizing the mulching party, to EBPRD for supporting the event, and to everyone who pitched in. PIDO holds weed pulls and cleanups as part of its commitment to keep Point Isabel clean, safe, and off-leash for all to enjoy.

Point Isabel Dog Owners announced that any cash stuffed in our donation jar at our Point Isabel park cleanup ( March 20) would go to recommended organizations working on the ground in Ukraine to help pets and other animals. All are helping pet owners on the run or have stayed behind, at great risk, to help animals – dogs, cats, horses, zoo animals, even a bear sanctuary – stranded in embattled Ukraine. PIDO promised to match what was collected, up to $500.

What happened over the next three days warmed our hearts. People stepped up big-time, from all over the Bay Area. More than $500 in cash was stuffed into PIDO’s donation jar at the park by people out walking their dogs. Little kids shyly offered wads of one-dollar bills. Senior citizens arrived with personal checks. Online donations poured in.

We have now distributed $6,500 to six organizations who desperately need support.