PLASTIC bags full of dog poo are piling up at an Aldinga Beach dog park because “lazy” pet owners are refusing to carry them 150m to the nearest bin.

Residents nearby Symonds Reserve are kicking up a stink after the bags of excrement started mounting up next to a fence at the dog park, which was opened six weeks ago.

Three bins are located near the entrance of the Hamilton Rd reserve, but there are no bins inside the fenced dog park because garbage trucks can not get inside to empty them.

Donna Walsh, who lives opposite the park, said residents had been forced to collect the “offensive” poo bags ever since the council bolted down the bins at the reserve’s entrance about three weeks ago, to stop pet owners dragging them 150m into the dog park.

“Bags of dog poo are left behind because people don’t see them and don’t bother to dispose of them properly,” Ms Walsh said.

She said the council needed to install bins inside the dog park.

“Residents have said they will take them to the kerb on bin collection days,” Ms Walsh said.

“I think you’ll find every other dog park has bins located at the dog park gates, irrespective of access issues.”

media_camera Bags of dog poo at a southern suburbs park. Picture: Supplied

Social media users have hit out at the littering pet owners on Facebook posts.

One person said dog owners not taking the poo bags with them when they leave the park was “lazy” while another described the behaviour as “disgusting”.

A third person questioned whether these pet owners were the same ones who “leave poo bags up and down the beach”.

A post on the Friends of Aldinga Dog Park Facebook page thanked the residents for its ongoing efforts in cleaning up the park, while criticising “a small minority who … have very little care factor and respect for anyone”.

Onkaparinga’s operations director Kirk Richardson said staff could not be expected to “manually empty” bins full of dog poo, which could weigh up to 70kg.

“To use the truck lifters, the bins must be located in areas where there is vehicle access,” Mr Richardson said.

He said there were three bins located next to the dog park which were emptied weekly.

“If people are using the sealed paths to leave the park, they will walk past a bin on their way out,” Mr Richardson said.



