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There is no Poop Bag Fairy

IMG_20170121_110309 Poop Bag Fairy

One of my pet peeves as a dog owner is when I go out for a walk and see plastic poop bags (filled with poop) left on the side of the road or on the trails.  I get it, nobody likes carrying around a bag of poop – especially when you’re on a hike and you might not see a garbage can for an hour.  Not all trails or neighbourhoods have an abundance of garbage cans available – and surprisingly even dog friendly trails often don’t have a garbage can at the trail head.  But the solution to this problem is to give feedback to the city on where garbage cans (or better yet the new red bins specific for dog poop) should be placed.  The solution is not to simply leave your dog poop behind.

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The Red dog poop bins

Even the small fenced lot in my neighbourhood is not immune from people leaving their poop behind.  The lot is a great place for dogs to meet and play – its fully fenced, an easily controlled environment and a gated entry.  It has become an “unofficial dog park” for many in the area.  At one end of the lot is a barrel – I’m not sure what it is there for but it is NOT a garbage can.  Not being a garbage can hasn’t stopped people from piling their poop bags on top of it and leaving it there.  I’m not sure who they think is going to come in and clean all of the bags up, but it is disrespectful to the space to leave poop behind and assume that it will be someone else’s problem.

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A barrel in a popular dog play area

 

The reality is that as a dog owner you ARE responsible for not only picking up your dogs poop, but disposing of it properly.  Leaving it on the side of the trail, road or in the park is simply not an option.  And it gives all dog owners a bad name.   Everyone has to share the green spaces that are available, so if everyone does their part to keep it clean we’ll all be a little happier – and remember – there is no poop bag fairy, the only one picking up the poop should be you.

I’ve put together a few pictures from various hikes to illustrate my point:

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