The city is standing by its policy to keep dogs out of Takhini Arena.

At a press conference held Monday afternoon, parks and recreation manager Linda Rapp said the city will not grant the extension requested from local dog groups to permit them to continue using the mezzanine at Takhini Arena until another suitable place can be found.

The city began its ban at the end of April, after having granted an initial extension last January.

Last week, numerous representatives from several dog clubs told council they have not been able to find an alternative site for their fall and winter classes, adding time is running short with classes set to start in September.

When the territory's Department of Education banned dogs from local schools in 2007, the arena's mezzanine became the only spot dog clubs had available for use in the city.

In a letter mailed last week and emailed Monday to the local dog groups, Mayor Bev Buckway confirmed the city will stand by the policy.

However, it will offer the groups a short-term contract for a facilitator to work with them "in moving forward.

"This could include an opportunity to receive assistance with formalities involved in moving to an umbrella organization model and working on a governance structure.”

The city will fund the facilitator to a maximum of $5,000, Rapp told reporters.

The city also offered to donate the decommissioned soccer flooring that was taken out of the Canada Games Centre when the new turf was added to the field house.

Officials also booked a meeting room at the Sport Yukon Building for noon Wednesday so the groups can get together. They were invited to call Rapp if they wanted city officials or the facilitator there.

In an interview Monday afternoon, Yukon Kennel Club president Keith Tegart said while a facilitator may help the groups in finding a new spot for their classes, he still doesn't understand the city's reasoning for banning the dogs after 20 years of their presence in the arena.

The city has cited health and safety reasons ranging from allergies to dog hair getting into the duct work and spreading throughout the building, as well as having the animals come into contact with others entering and exiting the arena.

In an interview this morning, Dr. Brendan Hanley, the territory's chief medical health officer, said if the issue was allergies alone, it likely wouldn't be enough to ban the animals.

Those attending events at the rink bring in pet dander on their clothes, he noted, and service dogs have to be accommodated for.

The city also raised the issue of preparing food in a building that has dogs inside it regularly.

Like the issue of allergies, it's not an "absolute” that the animals would have to be banned, but it does require staff at the arena to be "very vigilant” about preparing food, Hanley said.

Then there's the issue of dog and human interaction as people and animals are coming through the door. Hanley said the city has to consider its liability.

"This is not a strictly health (issue),” he said.

City officials likely looked at all those factors in bringing in the ban, he added, though there are both pros and cons to the ban.

Tegart pointed out there have been no complaints about the dogs from others.

"They're really missing it,” he said.

Having a place in the city to train dogs actually lessens the risk of negative dog and human interactions overall because the lessons mean there are more responsible dog owners in the city with trained dogs, he said.

As for what the groups will do about the indoor classes set to start next month, Tegart could only say: "Hopefully, we can come up with something.”

The groups will be meeting to discuss their next steps later this week.

Any place they do find would have to be clean and large enough for the classes.

"It's got to be a decent place,” he said, acknowledging that while the mezzanine wasn't ideal, it did provide a good spot for the groups.