Toronto mulls asking owners to take dog's poop home
Last Updated: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 | 11:15 AM ET
CBC News
"Poop, scoop and carry" could soon be the new slogan drummed into dog owners across Toronto.
A city council committee will consider Tuesday a call for residents to take their bags of dog poop home instead of disposing of them in park garbage bins.
'We're going to ask people to walk their dog — and the bag — home and not leave it in the park.'—Coun. Paula Fletcher
The suggestion is a result of the city's 2006 waste audit for which city workers examined three metric tonnes of waste from recycling and garbage bins at 126 parks to determine what Torontonians are tossing out.
Pet waste ranked high on the list, accounting for 23 to 27 per cent of all park trash.
"Just esthetically, when you walk in a park and there's a basket and there's dangling white bags of dog poo there, it isn't exactly inviting into the park," said Coun. Paula Fletcher, who represents Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth. "And it's very, very smelly in the summertime."
Organics and non-recyclables accounted for the highest amount at 35 to 40 per cent of the trash in waste bins, with recyclables at 24 to 28 per cent and illegally dumped materials at 10 to 15 per cent.
Place dog poop in green bins
Coun. Paula Fletcher, who is chair of the city's parks and environment committee, says dog owners need to be retrained.
"We're going to ask people to walk their dog — and the bag — home and not leave it in the park," said Fletcher.
She recommends that owners put the dog waste into their green bin, which collect organic materials such as food scraps and some paper products.
If residents don't change their habits, Fletcher says a fine could eventually be put into effect like the $240 now charged to those who fail to pick up after their pet.
But Fletcher is optimistic that pet owners will graduate easily from the "poop and scoop" practice to "poop, scoop and carry" without the need for fines.
For those who cringe at the idea of toting a bag of pet poop around with them on their walk, Fletcher suggests placing it somewhere to be picked up on the way home.
Fletcher said the city could also place green bins in city parks where dog owners could leave their pet's waste.
A pilot project underway has four parks outfitted with green bins.
