St. Albert dog owners are showing their support for the city’s crackdown on people who don’t pick up after their furry friends.
Earlier this week, the city announced bylaw officers would be doubling their efforts to enforce poop clean-up for the month of April. The city said in a March 25 news release its twice-annual clean-ups (which it hires a contractor for) saw 2.6 metric tons of renegade dog leavings hauled away last year. In 2017, contractors cleaned up 3.7 tons; in 2016, they cleaned up 5.8 tons; and in 2015 they cleaned up 4.1 tons.
The city's latest efforts mean those who fail to clean up after their pets could face a fine of $250, plus an $80 fine if owners don’t always have baggies or some other way to clean up after their dog.
John Dougas, who owns three dogs, supported the zero-tolerance approach the city is taking.“It’s the right move,” he said while at the Lacombe Lake Dog Park on Thursday.
“When you look around right now, there’s poop everywhere. I think 95 per cent of people pick up behind their dogs. A lot of times, when you are in a place like this, it gets busy. They just don’t see it happen.”
Dougas, who trains service dogs, said he often goes for walks along trails and is surprised by how much dog waste there actually is. He admitted he can’t always see when his dogs do their business but said he endeavours to check that nothing is left behind.
Fellow dog owner Andy Austin agreed with Dougas on the city's approach.
“It’s kind of gross when you’re walking around and you step in it or your dog steps in it,” he said, adding he always keeps his dog bags on hand. “Even in (Lacombe Park), you see people who don’t clean up after their dogs. It’s kind of annoying.”
Garnet Melnyk, the supervisor in charge of the city’s peace officer program, explained the city received a lot of feedback from last year’s zero-tolerance push, with most supporting the idea. He said officers will patrol parks and other areas where dog owners like to go and observe what’s happening.
“The goal of this campaign for the month of April is to change the behaviour of people prior to actual enforcement and to (encourage) people who own animals to be responsible,” he said. “The main goal is to increase education and awareness to the person who would not normally pick it up.”
Last year, bylaw issued one fine for someone failing to pick up after their pet, two fines for people failing to have bags and 46 fines for dogs being off-leash in an on-leash area. That fine, in particular, is $130.
Melnyk said there is some leeway in regard to dog owners not having bags. For example, if someone forgot to reload their roll of bags that is attached to their leash, an officer may not issue a fine if the person intends to go back home to get more bags.
“Most of our officers would use common sense and would say, ‘OK, I’ll wait here while you actually go and do that,’ ” he said. “Officers know when somebody is trying to (fool them). The officers would have that conversation with you, and if you have a bag holder and it is empty and you thought it was full, yeah, it happens.”
He added he hopes other dog owners will put pressure on those who don’t pick up to ensure no doggy waste is left behind.
