Editor, The News:
Re: Off-leash park plagued by glass, possible poisoning (The News, July 5).
I believe I know what is behind the sudden increase of so much dog feces not being picked up in our off-leash parks.
We began to notice a sudden surge in off-leash park attendance by people who own more than one dog. Some times the ratio looked to be eight dogs to one person – it was impossible for them to watch all their dogs in order to be aware when they were doing their business so they could pick it up.
We also noticed an increase in dogs that would come visit us. Some of them would overstay their welcome and nobody seemed to be taking responsibility for them – it was hard to tell who owned them.
It turns out that a number of dog-sitting or dog-walking companies are making use of a taxpayer provided facility to conduct part of their business.
It is bad enough that they over populate the off-leash park facility, but to make it worse, they leave a lot of crap behind they are not even aware of.
Where is our bylaws department?
Why don’t they make these business owners operate on their own land, or pay a premium for using a taxpayer provided facility to conduct their business? Then at least somebody can be hired to clean up after them without increasing the burden on the taxpayer.
Dan Olson
Maple Ridge
