I am writing in regard to Debra Smith’s July 26 front page article about Everett spending thousands of dollars for dog waste bags.
I, myself, approve and admire the city for doing this and my reasons are:
We moved to Everett in 1940 when I was 10 years old. I believe I played in every park Everett had at that time.
We played a lot of football and it was very common after you were tackled to come up, wipe your face off, or hand or knee from dog poop. One time at Riverdale Park I was playing center field and ran to catch a ball and stepped on a pile of dog poop and ended up on my back right on the pile.
In later years, when we would go on a picnic at Forest Park or Legion Park, it was very common to see little ones come back to the table crying because they had dog poop on them.
Then, thank God, the leash law came along and people were asked to clean up after their dogs. The majority do, but there are some that forget their bags or just don’t care. The bags may be a good reminder to folks. I am not a dog hater. I have had dogs almost all my life.
If we don’t encourage people to clean up after their dogs, I am just guessing but I think the city of Everett would have to employ two people and furnish a truck to keep the parks clean. The cost for that, I would guess, would be a $100,000 a year.
I, personally will take the $8,430 to purchase waste bags.
I think we should all encourage people to use the bags and maybe we could cut all costs. To the mayor, the City Council and all city employees involved with keeping our parks clean — I thank all of you. Keep up the good work.
Elmer Callaghan
Everett
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