Dog waste: Ottawa's dirty little secret

What is it with dog waste in this city? Why do some dog owners still refuse to pick up after their pets?

Our community has a neighbourhood Facebook group, and just about every week there’s someone posting about dog poop left at the playground, dog poop on the lawn, dog poop along the nature trail. There’s even an idiot in our neighbourhood who takes the effort to pick up the poop … but then leaves the bags behind on the ground.

I know this is problem is not unique to our neighbourhood.

It’s like texting while driving. Most people have figured out that it’s an irresponsible thing to do, but a few people still insist on doing it.

The photo above was taken at the neighbourhood park a couple weeks ago, first thing on a Monday morning. While I’m glad people are bagging their dog poop, I’m disappointed that it’s ending up in an overflowing garbage pail next to a city splash pad and to a school bus stop.  It was overflowing like this for most of the summer, and it reeked.

There’s a bylaw against putting dog waste in city garbage bins. (The City wants you to bring it home and flush it down your toilet.) I called the city and they’ve now installed signs on the garbage can and promised to pick up the garbage more frequently. I don’t think that’s going to help much.

I own a large boxer. He makes his fair share of waste, but I’ve never considered it a hassle to bag it up and bring it home.

Fellow dog owners, I have a few questions for you. Please comment below. You can even comment anonymously.

• Why don’t you pick up after your dog?
• When a garbage bin next to a kids' park is overflowing, why do you keep piling bags on top and around it?
• What else can be done to encourage dog owners to pick up after their pets?

(Previously: The new garbage bin at Conroy Pit is a load of…)