Off Lead Dog Parks & Parvo

[Sticks1977]

There is a rather decent sized park in Cranbourne that I used to take my old labrador (Fraser) to on a weekly basis for some exercise and to also see how he behaves when he is off-lead.

It has been several months since I have visited the park and on Sunday afternoon I attended with Henry (13 weeks old - he had his C5 vaccination at 12 weeks) and Marcus (10 months old) who we were minding for the day.

I was in the park for a few minutes and was disgusted by the amount of dog poo/droppings that were around the park area. There were no bins in the park for rubbish and I located two tied dog poo bags near the gate (so at least someone has been responsible to pick up their dogs poo...)

Since I had some dog poo bags with me I walked around the park (while my wife attended to Henry and Marcus) and proceeded to pick up most of the poo that I could find, some of it had been there for quite a while. In total I ended up with four large poo bags of it...

My main concern now is would it be possible that parvo or any other awful diseases could be in this park? Is there any way to find out? After I had picked up the poo - which I left in the four bags at the park - we took Henry and Marcus back home and I gave my hands a good wash with soap and also dettol wash.

I have since sent an email to my local councillor to alert her about the state of the park and to also let her know that the bags are sealed and ready for collection by council - I figure I have done enough to make it a little more pleasant to be around and to visit.

I would be interested to hear of any replies and I wonder whether I should be going to the local paper if I hear nothing back from the council over the coming weeks... I just hope that it is not an ongoing health hazard to dogs, as when Henry gets older I would like to take him to this park on a daily basis as it is within walking distance from home.

Regards, Shaun (Sticks1977)

Edited March 1, 2010 by Sticks1977

[Nic oh lah]

Disgusting isn't it. I've found that some parks are just like that. We frequent one called Kroll Gardens at Redcliffe in Brisbane - it's 5acres and i've never found a stray poop. Whereas when I went to a DOL meet at a nudgee park there were like 5 different patches. Yuk. I know people can't watch their dog every second of the day, but surely you'd notice them stopping, sniffing and dropping one. I keep an eye on Sophie for the first 15mins we're there because i expect that her running round for that long will start motions etc, so you keep an eye out for it. People are just so gross.

[Guest Willow]

Firstly, you are a lovely, lovely person for cleaning up all the other dogs poo!!!

Secondly, the presence of poo doesn't make it more risky for parvo. It makes it more disgusting, and perhaps easier to pick up worms, but the parvo virus can be shed & left behind long after the poo has gone, so even walkking down a seemingly pristine footpath can put you at risk of Parvo.

When I was nursing, the recommendation for pups was to wait 14 days after the 12 week needle before venturing out, but he will have almost full protection a week after.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it, you are just as likely to encounter parvo walking down your own clean street as at the park. You have probably come in contcat with a dozens of times before, but are blissfully unaware of it.

This is why we vaccinate, because you can't see parvo.

Perhaps write to the local council & tell them your story & ask for a bin & some bags to be put in. To be honest, people should be taking their own bags & taking the poo home again if there is no bin, but they are obviously lazy, selfush buggers who don't care about other park users.

Don't worry about it anymore, your dogs will be fine.

[Sticks1977]

Thanks for the replies - I can always seem to rely on the members here at DOL to put my mind at ease...

I ended up sending an Email to the local council and it read as follows:

I have recently returned from a visit to Harry Street Reserve which is on the corner of Harry Street and Cranbourne Drive in Cranbourne.

Quite some time ago I Emailed you to enquire about an off-lead dog park that our four legged friends could visit and be exercised off-lead with proper supervision and control from their handler(s). It is wonderful that the park is still available for this use but it is quite alarming with the current state it has been left in.

When I arrived with my puppy (a chocolate labrador named Henry), I noticed there was an extensive amount of dog droppings throughout the park – and some of them have been there for quite a while due to the amount of decomposing evident.

I was at the park with my wife who was able to keep Henry and another dog that we are ‘minding’ for the day active while I took it upon myself to walk around the park and pick up most of the droppings with my own dog poo bags that I had brought along with me. There were already two plastic dog bags left near the gate, so at least one or two owners are responsible! - yet a vast majority of them clearly do not seem to look after their own pet when it comes to the task of them going to the toilet in public.

The park itself does not have any signage whatsoever relating to off-lead dog exercise and also to remind owners to pick up after their pets. I realise that the park is not exclusively for the use of dog exercise and is available for use by all members of the public whether they be four legged or not. However from the amount of droppings that I noticed, several dogs must be using this park regularly. If proper signage is evident then some pet owners may pick up after their pets and make it a more pleasant park to visit.

In total I ended up with four large dog bags of droppings that I took upon myself to pickup. I have left them at the dog park near the park benches that are on the Harry Street side of the park – which leads to another subject that I wish to discuss.

It may be beneficial to include one or two rubbish bins within the park (on either side of the fenced off area) as this may give the option to pet owners to pick up after they go to the toilet and then have somewhere to dispose of the plastic bag. I am aware that the Council did trial dog poo bags in some parks throughout Council parks and this did not continue, I feel it is the responsibility of each pet owner to provide their own bags.

I didn't expect to hear back any time soon, but I received a reply shortly after from the council...

Thank you for your email Shaun.

You have raised some valid issues and provided some great suggestions. I shall follow this up and get back to you

Whether I hear back from them is another matter - but hopefully they make some improvements!

[Guest Willow]

Well done! and good on the council for responding so quickly. Maybe next time you visit there will be a shiny new bin there too!

[Savane]

Good for you for picking it up, I think it's gross when people can't clean up after their dogs, really gives dog owners a bad name.

[Paulp]

I believe the Casey council ran a trial last year where they supplied poo bags and bins at a couple of parks but decided that it was not economically viable and withdrew them. I think this decision was made because there was still dog poo around and they decided they weren't being used. It is hard to believe but it is a law in Casey, with an on the spot fine for breaking it, that you must carry poo bags if you are walking a dog. Even at our dog club in the off leash areas with signs all over saying to pick up after your dogs and bags and bins always available right there in the areas there is still poo left on the ground. Hopefully it is left there outside if training hours by non-club members..... Unfortunately no matter how hard you try there will always be ignorant and lazy dog owners who just could not be bothered.

Good on you though for making the effort, our club seems to be making some headway with the council so maybe there is some hope for it yet

[Sticks1977]

I seem to recall the trial that Casey Council had going with the poo bags. I mainly remember it as someone from Cranbourne News rang me up asking for my opinion about dog poo bags and whether the council should supply them. I responded that it is the owners resposibility to pick up after their dogs and suppy their own bags are they are readily available in supermarkets and pet stores.

Sadly, the day they rang me about this story was only a few days after Fraser had been given his wings... the comforting thing was they were willing to use a file photo of me and Fraser in the paper for that story. I have since heard back from the council and they have told me that they are looking into installing bins and some signage in the park - hopefully it makes some what of a difference!