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Let's talk about dog poop and dog leashes!

This consultation has concluded.

Thank you for your feedback

Thank you for completing our surveys and providing your feedback on these important issues. A summary of your feedback is posted below in the news feed section. We asked, you answered, and we are pleased to implement your solutions in an effort to encourage more responsible dog ownership. Visit the next steps article below for details. Thank you for contributing to this process!

1. Encourage dog owners to pick up dog poop

We receive several complaints of dog poop left on fences, in parks and on trails and it seems like signage and enforcement are not working. This behaviour is not okay. It means people can't enjoy their time in parks and on trails as much as they'd like because dog poop is unhygienic and can be toxic and harmful to people and pets. Park and trail users shouldn't have to worry about stepping in it by accident and tracking it home on their shoes.

2. Encourage dog owners to keep dogs on a leash

We love seeing you walk your dog on local trails and in parks, however we receive several complaints about dogs being off-leash. It is a bylaw and you could be fined if you are caught walking your dog off-leash. Your dog is friendly with you but they can be threatening to other trail and park users including seniors and young children, even other dogs. It seems like signage and enforcement are not working.

Dog waste recycling container at a park

3. New locations for dog poop containers

Currently, there is one dog poop recycling container at each of these locations in Waterloo:

Bechtel Dog Park

St. Moritz Park

Lakeshore Optimist Park

McCrae Park

Rolling Hills Park

Chesapeake Park

Old Post Park

Red River Park

Mary Allen Park

Pinery Trail Park

Vista Hills Park

Waterloo Park East

Moses Springer

Dog owners pick up poop and drop it into these containers. Any type of bag can be used - they don't have to be compostable. A waste removal company empties the containers with a vacuum and transports the waste to be converted into energy.

The estimated environmental benefits are impressive. Since 2017, these containers:

diverted about 91,687 lbs of waste from the landfill
removed 1.16 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere
powered the equivalent of 24.36 homes for a year

Our goal is to grow this program, and install additional containers every year.

Our hope is that additional containers will encourage more dog owners to dispose of their dog poop properly. If we receive ideas for more than the five units we have budgeted, we will keep the list for future installations.

This is our city, our Waterloo. It's important we all do our part to follow the rules so people and pets stay safe, and our parks and trails remain beautiful and clean.

Thank you for your feedback

Thank you for completing our surveys and providing your feedback on these important issues. A summary of your feedback is posted below in the news feed section. We asked, you answered, and we are pleased to implement your solutions in an effort to encourage more responsible dog ownership. Visit the next steps article below for details. Thank you for contributing to this process!

1. Encourage dog owners to pick up dog poop

We receive several complaints of dog poop left on fences, in parks and on trails and it seems like signage and enforcement are not working. This behaviour is not okay. It means people can't enjoy their time in parks and on trails as much as they'd like because dog poop is unhygienic and can be toxic and harmful to people and pets. Park and trail users shouldn't have to worry about stepping in it by accident and tracking it home on their shoes.

2. Encourage dog owners to keep dogs on a leash

We love seeing you walk your dog on local trails and in parks, however we receive several complaints about dogs being off-leash. It is a bylaw and you could be fined if you are caught walking your dog off-leash. Your dog is friendly with you but they can be threatening to other trail and park users including seniors and young children, even other dogs. It seems like signage and enforcement are not working.

Dog waste recycling container at a park

3. New locations for dog poop containers

Currently, there is one dog poop recycling container at each of these locations in Waterloo:

Bechtel Dog Park

St. Moritz Park

Lakeshore Optimist Park

McCrae Park

Rolling Hills Park

Chesapeake Park

Old Post Park

Red River Park

Mary Allen Park

Pinery Trail Park

Vista Hills Park

Waterloo Park East

Moses Springer

Dog owners pick up poop and drop it into these containers. Any type of bag can be used - they don't have to be compostable. A waste removal company empties the containers with a vacuum and transports the waste to be converted into energy.

The estimated environmental benefits are impressive. Since 2017, these containers:

diverted about 91,687 lbs of waste from the landfill
removed 1.16 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere
powered the equivalent of 24.36 homes for a year

Our goal is to grow this program, and install additional containers every year.

Our hope is that additional containers will encourage more dog owners to dispose of their dog poop properly. If we receive ideas for more than the five units we have budgeted, we will keep the list for future installations.

This is our city, our Waterloo. It's important we all do our part to follow the rules so people and pets stay safe, and our parks and trails remain beautiful and clean.

This consultation has concluded.

Do you have a question about any component of this project? Post it here and our project team will respond.

Share You are telling us to not have dogs on Leash, why are you not providing additional fence dogs parks to let the dogs off leach on Facebook Share You are telling us to not have dogs on Leash, why are you not providing additional fence dogs parks to let the dogs off leach on Twitter Share You are telling us to not have dogs on Leash, why are you not providing additional fence dogs parks to let the dogs off leach on Linkedin Email You are telling us to not have dogs on Leash, why are you not providing additional fence dogs parks to let the dogs off leach link

You are telling us to not have dogs on Leash, why are you not providing additional fence dogs parks to let the dogs off leach

Tino asked about 3 years ago

Good question! We ask dog owners to keep their dogs on a leash all the time, when visiting neighbourhood parks, trails and school yards. Your dog may be friendly with you, but it might be intimidating or even scary to children, older adults and possibly other dogs as well. The leash-free dog park at Bechtel Park is a great location to let your dog run off-leash. We are building a new leash-free dog park on the west side of Waterloo, and it should be ready sometime in 2022.
Share After submitting the survey I was unable to submit follow up comments :( Have you considered having a team stand / walk around some of the areas with complaints and run a quick survey of dog owners who pass? "What do you do after a dog poops? Why do you think some people don't pick it up, or leave bags of poop? Why do you think some people aren't happy when poop is left or bags aren't picked up?" Maybe that could help collect a better picture of the situation, since I doubt the survey is being filled out by the people who leave poop around the neighbourhood. Conducting the survey could be a volunteer position for high school students to collect volunteer hours, so could be low cost for the city. on Facebook Share After submitting the survey I was unable to submit follow up comments :( Have you considered having a team stand / walk around some of the areas with complaints and run a quick survey of dog owners who pass? "What do you do after a dog poops? Why do you think some people don't pick it up, or leave bags of poop? Why do you think some people aren't happy when poop is left or bags aren't picked up?" Maybe that could help collect a better picture of the situation, since I doubt the survey is being filled out by the people who leave poop around the neighbourhood. Conducting the survey could be a volunteer position for high school students to collect volunteer hours, so could be low cost for the city. on Twitter Share After submitting the survey I was unable to submit follow up comments :( Have you considered having a team stand / walk around some of the areas with complaints and run a quick survey of dog owners who pass? "What do you do after a dog poops? Why do you think some people don't pick it up, or leave bags of poop? Why do you think some people aren't happy when poop is left or bags aren't picked up?" Maybe that could help collect a better picture of the situation, since I doubt the survey is being filled out by the people who leave poop around the neighbourhood. Conducting the survey could be a volunteer position for high school students to collect volunteer hours, so could be low cost for the city. on Linkedin Email After submitting the survey I was unable to submit follow up comments :( Have you considered having a team stand / walk around some of the areas with complaints and run a quick survey of dog owners who pass? "What do you do after a dog poops? Why do you think some people don't pick it up, or leave bags of poop? Why do you think some people aren't happy when poop is left or bags aren't picked up?" Maybe that could help collect a better picture of the situation, since I doubt the survey is being filled out by the people who leave poop around the neighbourhood. Conducting the survey could be a volunteer position for high school students to collect volunteer hours, so could be low cost for the city. link

After submitting the survey I was unable to submit follow up comments :( Have you considered having a team stand / walk around some of the areas with complaints and run a quick survey of dog owners who pass? "What do you do after a dog poops? Why do you think some people don't pick it up, or leave bags of poop? Why do you think some people aren't happy when poop is left or bags aren't picked up?" Maybe that could help collect a better picture of the situation, since I doubt the survey is being filled out by the people who leave poop around the neighbourhood. Conducting the survey could be a volunteer position for high school students to collect volunteer hours, so could be low cost for the city.

CF asked almost 4 years ago

Thank you for submitting this question/idea. We'll add it to the feedback we receive for this project and determine if we can implement it through volunteer work, etc., as you suggest. Thanks again!

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