EVERETT — Dog owners who visit city parks don’t need to bring a bag to clean up after Fido.
Everett taxpayers take care of that for them.
This year and last, officials have cut millions of dollars from Everett’s budget in response to a dismal economy.
Yet last year the city spent $8,430 on plastic bags for pet poop.
The city bought 120 cases from the Doggie Walk Bag Co. — a total of 240,000 bags.
Volunteers stock the bags at 36 stations at city parks and trails to encourage people to pick up after their dogs, city spokeswoman Kate Reardon said.
Pet waste is raw sewage teeming with hazardous bacteria. Officials are concerned about it contaminating rivers, lakes and streams.
An estimated 126,000 dogs drop 20 tons of waste across the county daily. Pet poop is one of the leading causes of bacterial contamination of streams.
“When it rains, bacteria in dog waste is carried by stormwater runoff to storm drains, ditches and streams that feed our rivers, lakes and the Puget Sound,” she said.
Snohomish County has the same concerns, but it’s found a way to the handle the problem without spending taxpayer money, said Tom Teigen, Snohomish County Parks director.
A dog-owners group called Sno-Dog stocks county off-leash dog parks with bags.
The county opened an off-leash area at Willis Tucker Community Park in 2008 and another at Cavalero Hill Community Park the following year. Officials initially spent $1,300 on poop bags and dispensers, county spokesman Christopher Schwarzen said.
The county has since stopped paying for the bags to save money, Schwarzen said.
“Plus, people should be responsible for their pets,” he said.
Sno-Dog either pays for the plastic bags from its membership fees or gets donations of produce bags from local grocery stores, said Sibyl Perkins, with the group.
Providing bags probably does encourage dog owners to clean up, she said. Sno-Dog also organizes work parties that build fences and spread wood chips.
“That’s what Sno-Dog is all about — users of the park play a role,” said Perkins, who has two lab-mixes named Rosa Barks and Farrell Doggs.
Before volunteers started supplying the bags, dog owners just brought their own, she said. The group’s searching for more volunteers now.
Her group also has started helping out the city of Monroe with its off-leash park, Wiggly Field at Sky River Park.
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
