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Many dog owners today had cheers for the Board of Health, after members voted unanimously to amend the city's leash law – a move that further protects the off-leash hours observed in some city parks.

"Clarifying this entire issue is a victory for everyone, dog owners and non-dog owners, who enjoy city parks," said Robert Marino, president NYCDog, an umbrella organization for about 35 groups with 35,000 members.

The vote came four days after a Queens judge ruled against a civic group that sought to end an unofficial Parks Department policy that for 20 years has allowed off-leash exercise between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. in parks that do not have dog runs.

The Juniper Park Civic Association charged the city was violating its own leash law by allowing the "courtesy hours" and said loose dogs are unpredictable and potentially dangerous at any hour.

The group's leader Robert Holden has called the policy "complete lunacy."

Off-leash proponents and the Parks Department officials say off-leash hours make dogs more sociable and have made city parks safer.

"The Parks Department looks forward to codifying the successful, long-standing 'courtesy hours' policy," said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.

"The daily presence of dog owners during early morning and late evening hours and fewer reports of dog bites have also made parks safer," he said.

The health code before stated the city's 1.4 million dogs must be on a leash no longer than six feet in public places. The amendment, which makes explicit Parks' power to decide park rules regarding dogs, is effective immediately.

Of comments on the issue submitted to the board by the public, more than 13,000 favored the off-leash hours while about 200 were against.

The Queens lawsuit, and the months-long debate it sparked, called into question discrepancies between Parks and health department regulations.

The amendment clarifies the leash law language and makes the unofficial policy official.

"We think the health department has moved in the right direction to make this more formalized," said Matthew Parker, president of Friends of Hillside Dog Park.

"Dog bites have gone to a historic low while the policy has been in effect and we think by strengthening it and adding more rules and responsibilities that number will go down further," he said.

Health department statistics show there were about 40,000 dog bites annually in the 1960s and just under 4,000 in 2005. Bites are down 10.3 % from that number for 2006.

But not all city owners were happy with the board's decision.

Patricia Spado, 59, whose 6-year-old Yorkshire Terrier Sweetie was fatally attacked by a loose dog in Central Park this past January, called the vote "disgusting."

Spado, an Upper East Side resident, says she was walking her three Yorkies in Central Park around 7:30 a.m. near East 79th Street when a larger dog bounded toward the trio and attacked.

"My little Sweetie was just chewed to shreds. She didn't have a chance," Spado said. "There's no control over these large dogs."

The off-leash battle is in the homestretch now, but it's not quite over.

The Parks Department will now embark on a process similar to the Board of Health procedure, a Parks spokesman said.

The Parks Department will propose a rule clearly outlining designated hours and areas for off-leash recreation, then allow a 30-day period of public comment before deciding whether to finalize the rule.