Unsightly dog feces at Kelowna parks

As the snow melts, many Kelowna residents are noticing something unsightly in city parks: dog feces.

Michael Bratt takes his children to many of Kelowna’s green spaces and says dog feces is all too common of a sight for him.

“There’s dog poo everywhere. People aren’t cleaning up after their dogs and our kids are playing in the area,” he said.

Bratt believes irresponsible dog owners are ruining parks for others.

“It is really an eyesore and quite honestly I’m very disappointed with the way it looks.”

The Kelowna man is a veterinarian, and he also worries about possible diseases.

“Dog poo can carry roundworms, which can affect children and people and cause blindness,” Bratt said.

Park visitors are divided over the seriousness of the problem.

“I didn’t see any at the playground. I think it’s pretty clean,” one woman tells CHBC News.

But tourist Tammie Wilson says she can’t believe what she sees.

“There were dog feces probably every 20 feet,” Wilson said of her walk through Waterfront Park. “I thought it was pretty gross.”

“Perhaps some dogs are just running loose and their owners just aren’t present when the feces are left behind,” suggested Diane Ruesgen.

However even the City of Kelowna admits it is an issue.

“There’s definitely a problem with people not picking up after themselves,” said Ted Sophonow, parks supervisor for the City of Kelowna.

He notes that park clean ups currently happen a couple times a week but come March 15, they will take place every day.

Sophonow adds that the parks department will look into more enforcement but says it all boils down to self-policing.

“The city, could it do more? Absolutely. We could always do a little bit more. But I think in the big scheme, we rely on the public themselves to look after the dog poop problem,” he said.

“Having the public deal with that issue would be the best use of taxpayers’ money.”