For many dog owners who live in St. Albert, the park at Lacombe Lake is a pup's paradise. But for nearby residents and some people who jog, bike or walk through the park, it has been a dog's breakfast.

For many dog owners who live in St. Albert, the park at Lacombe Lake is a pup's paradise. But for nearby residents and some people who jog, bike or walk through the park, it has been a dog's breakfast.

The state of the controversial dog-friendly park has for years been a source of debate for residents, councillors and the city, spilling over into the pages of the Gazette on many occasions as park users argued the merits of putting up a fence, the safety concerns of off-leash dogs chasing after cyclists and joggers, and – most contentiously – what to do about dog owners who don't pick up after their pets.



Fencing met with approval from dog owners

A four-foot black chain link fence went up around the west side of the park in late 2017 after city council heard 69 per cent of survey respondents wanted a physical barrier around the city's off-leash parks.

Generally, dog owners are happy with the fence, which keeps Fido from chasing unsuspecting joggers.

For Shirley Napora, owner of 17-month-old Milo, the fence fixes an issue she has faced when using the park.

She admits her pup – a feisty husky who loves to wrestle with other dogs in the park – likes to run with joggers. With the fence up, he runs beside them along the fence instead.

"This is perfect, especially for a husky kind of dog," she said.

Jim Groff recalls the first time he visited the park, before the west side was fenced off, and seeing a man upset because his daughter had been harassed by a dog on the trail.

"I didn't quite get it, but then I saw what he was talking about," Groff recalled.

"I like the idea of building the fence, trying to separate (the dogs)."

Groff and his golden retriever, Max, live near Ted Hole Park, which has a small off-leash area. He said he often wishes the city would fence that off too, to help residents understand clearly where the off-leash area is.



Residents not so happy

Not everything is roses along the fence line, though. St. Albert Coun. Ken MacKay said residents in the subdivision of Legacy Point, which looks out over Lacombe Lake Park's west side, have experienced their own issues with the fence.

Aside from obscuring their view of the park, residents say the fence also provides a handy corridor for dogs to do their business.

"The fence attracts dogs, and dogs urinate on the fences, and that attracts more dogs," MacKay explained.

"Of course, that leaves just an awful odour in (residents') back yards when they're trying to enjoy their decks and hot tubs."

And although the city contracts clean-up of the park twice each year – one after the snow melts and one in the fall before snow falls – dog feces can really pile up in between clean-ups.

MacKay said the state of the park disappointed him the past few times he has visited. The dog waste got so bad at one point that some residents began calling it "Dog Poop Park."

"It's quite frustrating," MacKay said.

The situation frustrates responsible dog owners as well. Napora said she often brings extra bags with her in case someone forgets theirs. And while some instances can be forgiven – say, if your dog is at the opposite end of the park from you – she hates seeing some owners decline to pick up after their pet.

"It drives me nuts," she said.

Jasmine Nuthall, owner of Newfie cross Koda, said she doesn't judge other dog owners but agreed the park can get "icky" in the springtime.

She added the majority of dog owners who use the park are responsible.

"You have the odd one (out), but there's pretty decent pet owners and all the dogs are pretty decent," she said.

In December, the city installed five bag dispensers, one at each entrance of the park. However, the city does not provide bags for the dispensers and asks residents to bring their own bags as well as extras if they want to fill the dispensers.



City hauls out more waste than usual

Lacombe Lake Park has an average of 50 to 100 kilograms of dog waste removed each time the contractor cleans it.

Louise Stewart, operations manager for Parks and Open Spaces, said the contractor did a mid-season clean-up of Lacombe Lake Park on Jan. 19 and 20 after the city received concerns about the area, hauling out 680 kilograms.

"It was a larger-than-expected volume ... however, this weight would also reflect a 'wet' weight, or frozen weight, plus any snow that was attached," she stated in an email.

"This makes it difficult to directly compare stats from May when the feces would be lighter due to the drier conditions."

Still, that number pales in comparison to the amount of total dog waste the city has collected in the past.

In 2015, a total of 4.1 metric tonnes of dog feces were collected; in 2016, that number jumped to 5.8 metric tonnes.

In 2017, it fell to 3.7 metric tonnes and Stewart said the city hopes that downward trend continues. The vast majority of dog waste comes from the city's 20 dog parks, while the rest comes from boarded outdoor rink sites and ravines and forest trails.

In general, the city park with the highest volume of dog waste is Grey Nuns White Spruce Park, which exceeded 700 kilograms in the spring of 2016.

"(That) site is typically the highest volume every pick-up," Stewart said.

MacKay said the numbers were staggering. Tons of dog waste?

"I don't even know what that looks like," he said.

"I feel for the residents, I really do – and I feel for the users of the park."



Changes in the wind

In the coming weeks, park users might see an increased enforcement presence at the park as bylaw officers make more frequent visits.

MacKay says that's one of several actions the city is taking to help in the fight against felonious feces. That includes handing out violation tickets or verbal warnings to people who leave a mess behind.

"Hopefully, we get the message out and people will police themselves or will look at maybe even working together as a community to deal with the situation," he said.

"I think, ideally, nobody would want that in their back yard ... and you don't want your pet in that because it's just obviously not clean and it's not sanitary."

Although it will take some time for solutions to be implemented, MacKay said the city is looking into how other municipalities manage their dog parks and keeping in touch with residents of Legacy Point.

He said the increase in bylaw visits is part of a three-pronged approach to solving some of the park's issues, with the other prongs being possibly building a buffer zone between the residents' properties and the park, and methods of landscaping the fence to make it more palatable for residents.

Any possible solutions are up in the air at the moment, though.

"Right now, city administration has got (a consultant) conducting a whole review of the park, and they're going to try and provide more suggestions to rectify the concerns," he said.

"We're looking at (how to) change the environment."