The weeks of cleaning up after others and asking pet owners to pick up what their dogs leave behind looks to have made a difference at Volunteer Park.
Volunteer picker-upper Joan Sargent was at the park last Friday and said, “It’s so much better. … Right now I’m feeling pretty positive.”
Sargent, who serves on the Parks and Recreation advisory board, estimates she collected more than 100 pounds of dog waste at the park this spring. “It was solid. You couldn’t walk across the entry area without tiptoeing.”
She had written the borough assembly last month,
recommending that the community “reestablish a quality reputation for this beautiful area.”
Parks and Recreation has been working to make people more aware of the problem, asking the public to help out by cleaning up after their dogs.
The entry area to the park leads to the nature trail, volleyball and tennis courts and baseball fields, said Kate Thomas, Parks and Recreation director. “You have to walk through land mines, for lack of a better term,” she said.
Thomas believes the inconsiderate behavior of some dog owners is infectious: If people see one waste pile, they figure it’s OK to add another.
The work of Parks and Recreation’s limited staff is not sufficient to continually clean up the area, she said. Staff remove trash and clean the bathrooms daily, and go after the dog waste on a weekly basis — along with all their other maintenance, cleanup and upkeep of park areas at Shoemaker Bay, Heritage Harbor, Mt. Dewey, petroglyph beach and the city cemetery.
In addition to dog waste at the entrance to Volunteer Park, it’s also a problem on the trail, Thomas said. Pet owners may think the waste is “camouflaged” if their dog runs off and finds a spot on the trail.
“We’re a very leashless-friendly community,” and it would help if dog owners paid attention to where their dogs go while on the trail, she said. “All of a sudden, your dog takes a poop and you don’t even notice it.” But other hikers can just as easily step into it.
“Overall, I think awareness has improved,” Thomas said. But she worries about people sliding back into bad habits, particularly people who drive up to the parking lot at the entrance and let out their dogs for a bathroom break — without cleaning up the mess. There is a stand with plastic dog waste bags for people to use, she said.
If it gets too messy again, the department has the option of temporarily closing the entrance to clean up the waste and bring more attention to the problem, the parks director said.
“There are many health and safety reasons that encourage us to be responsible pet owners,” the department’s website says. “Dog poop can host a plethora of bacteria and diseases, leading to illnesses in your pets and harmful side effects to humans. Dog poop is not a fertilizer, it does not break down quickly or easily, and it is against municipal law to leave dog poop behind in public spaces.”
Both Thomas and Sargent said community awareness seems to have improved of late. “Kudos to those who are helping out,” Sargent said.
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