The owner of Kangaroo Creek Farm has taken to social media to voice frustrations, after receiving a bylaw complaint about piles of garbage being dumped on their property, near several animal enclosures.
“I wonder what lovely people decided to flush the contents of their garbage cans over the North end of the Kangaroo Farm,” the post reads, above several photos of the waste left behind.
Nathan Russett has been the property manager at the farm for four years. It took him and another co-worker about an hour to clean up the discarded debris, leaving Russett angered.
“It is disheartening,” described Kangaroo Creek Farm property manager, Nathan Russett.
“I spend a lot of time personally keeping this place looking good, and it feels like people are working against me when they’re dumping their crap here.”
Kangaroo Creek Farm is home to over different 200 animals, from emus to kangaroos, and turkeys to tortoises — fortunately none of them came into contact with the garbage.
“The animals that we have were pretty safe from it, however from what I could tell, the wild animals had picked through it,” explained Russett.
“We do get a lot of deer, the elk have come through, wild dogs and coyotes that sort of stuff — It looked like they had been through that garbage.”
As of January 1, landfill disposal fees at the Glenmore landfill went up from $102 per tonne to $104 per tonne. While the City of Kelowna’s Utility Services Manager Kevin Van Vliet says he doesn’t believe the slight increase will result in more illegal dumping, he admits it has become more common in recent years.
“Illegal dumping is always a concern, because it always seems to be a small segment of the population that doesn’t want to dispose their garbage properly or take accountability for their waste,” said City of Kelowna’s utility services manager, Kevin Van Vliet.
“It does cost a bit to dispose of things properly, but it’s an important thing to do and more product stewardship programs are out there to make it easier to recycle.”
In B.C., anyone caught illegally dumping could face a fine of up to $1 million, and even jail time under the province’s environmental management act.
“There are fines, but it’s also about the negative impact on the environment,” said Van Vliet.
“Take accountability for your waste.”