Haydn Harper had his dogs off the lead near a children’s play area in Tilgate Park, Crawley.
The area is under a Public Space Protection Order which means dogs must be on leads at all times.
Crawley Borough Council said one of its officers asked Harper to put the dogs on a lead or leave the area but he refused. He was then given a fixed penalty notice, which was not paid on time.
Crawley magistrates ordered Harper to pay a total of £1,180 over the incident which happened in March last year.
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Harper did not attend the court hearing in December.
He was the first person to be fined in connection with Tilgate Park since its Public Space Protection Order was introduced in September 2022 and only one other fine has been given since.
Councillor Yasmin Khan, cabinet member for public protection at Crawley Borough Council, said: “We want everyone who visits Tilgate Park to have an enjoyable experience and to feel secure there.
“We do not want to restrict anyone’s ability to use our parks but felt it necessary to put the Public Space Protection Order in place after various reports of dog attacks on people and wildlife.
“We have been educating dog walkers about the order since it was introduced and giving them a chance to follow the rules before resorting to enforcement action.
“The number of people issued with penalty notices and reports of attacks by dogs are quite low as a result of what we have done.
“In this case we were given no choice but to pursue a failure to comply at each opportunity through the court and now one walk in the park has cost someone more than £1,000.”
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