Maya Mork is not looking forward to the spring. Not that she doesn’t enjoy the season, but she’s perturbed about something else.

“I just got a dog a few months ago,” she says. “I started noticing, with all the snow around, it’s very obvious – there’s dog poo everywhere. Basically anywhere I go with my dog.”

She says her family used to go to Little Mountain Park but they don’t like to go there anymore.

“Especially in the spring when it melts, there are thousands of dog poos in there, it’s so gross.”

Similar complaints have been heard about other areas in the spring, such as the Salmon Arm wharf.

Mork says the new dog park in Klahani Park is particularly bad right now.

“It’s weird – it’s like people think that because it’s a dog park, they don’t have to pick up after their dog.”

Related link: The ethics of poop shaming

She’s also noticed the problem around the South Canoe trails.

“The land mines are everywhere. I feel sorry for cross-country skiers; if they fall there – it’s poo all the way up the roadway.”

Mork walks her children to Hillcrest Elementary regularly.

“Even in the school yards – people will leave it in the school yard,” she says.

She would like to see more spots with doggy bags, but even that doesn’t seem to be a solution.

“I don’t know why people would not pick up after their dog. It’s not like you’d let your child run around without a diaper and then just leave it around. It’s weird.”

At the city, staff say there are no plans to install doggy bag dispensers at the South Canoe trail head.

However, staff are well aware that even where there are dispensers, some people ignore them.

States Rob Niewenhuizen, director of engineering and public works:

“What is really unfortunate is that we do have dispensers at the new dog park and near the ball fields at Klahani and for some reason all of these areas are covered in dog feces even one foot away from the actual dispenser.

“Another problem that we find is that even when the doggie bags are used, some pet owners throw the bags into the forest or leave them on the trails.

“It is the responsibility of the owners to clean up after their pets.”

@SalmonArm

marthawickett@saobserver.net

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