Dog poo in parks ‘a bit of a tradition’

KAMLOOPS – Calling cards, doggie doo-doo, dog mess, dog kabobs… no matter what you call it the people of Kamloops are sick of seeing it in our city parks but there is little that can be done about it.

Kamloops is considered a dog friendly city by many standards. We have several dedicated dog parks and a total of 30 parks where dogs are allowed, with park improvements planned for the near future as well. But with owners not willing to clean up after their pets tolerance levels are dropping.

“We have a tremendous amount of activity in our parks,” Parks Director Byron McCorkell says, “It’s both good and bad.”

Dog owners not cleaning up after their dog does its business in city parks came up again at council this week and McCorkell says the city does provide about 150,000 doggie bags per year — at a cost of about $4,500 — for dog owners to use but many people are still leaving the bags in the park instead of throwing them out.

“If we didn't (provide bags) we would have a massive problem,” McCorkell notes. “It has become a bit of a tradition to see bags along the way.”

He says dogs will often do their business within the first 10 minutes. Unfortunately not everyone bothers to bag the feces and those that do don’t always dispose of the bag. McCorkell says instead of toting around the bag people appear to leave it along the path with the intention of grabbing it on the way back down. Too often the bags are left on the side of the path though.

McCorkell suggests new more ‘folksy’ signs to help create dialogue and to ensure money from licensing pays for any adjustments needed to how bags, dog feces and dog parks are handled.

“It should be owners paying for that stuff,” he adds.

The dog licensing fee increased by $5 per year in 2015 to help pay for upgrades to dog parks in the city. In the effort to move more towards a user-pay system for dog facilities, the charge will also help cover the costs of adding a new dog park to the Juniper area and improving access of Rivers Trail through McArthur Island Park.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.