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Town Manager Says Pick Up After Your Dog
"Landmines" In Park
February 23, 2017

O
riental’s Town Manager is asking dog owners to be sure to clean up after their dogs in public places.

“We’re beginning to have a problem with people not picking up after their dogs,” says Diane Miller, “and it’s showing up repeatedly, in our high visibility, public facilities, like the harborfront dock and restrooms, the fishing pier, the dinghy dock, Lou Mac Park, and the wildlife ramp.”

“Please note that the Town provides dog waste stations and bags for your use to pick up after your dog throughout Town. Be kind to your neighbors and pick up after your own.”

“Oriental has long been a very dog-friendly place, but it’s not as enjoyable to go to the park and have to step through landmines to get to the Adirondack chairs at the water’s edge, or hop over them to get to the fishing pier.”

Diane Miller’s comments came in an email Wednesday in which she quoted the existing Town ordinance:”‘It shall be unlawful for any owner to permit his dog or cat to run at large if such animal is reported as creating a public nuisance’. The fine associated with this is $20/incident.”

She wrote that “several solutions have been proposed that go beyond that,” but noted that “there are issues with ALL of those solutions.”

“We could discuss leash law again, we could require in-Town licensing in order to identify owners and assign fines and involve animal control when dogs are not licensed, we could plaster signs all over reminding people to pick up after their animals,”

“All of those options have distasteful side effects and we prefer not to litter the water view with signs. We have some very well-mannered dogs who just take a walkabout and return home without incident. All solutions come with an enforcement burden as well.”

“If dog owners were simply responsible for their own pets, this would become a non-issue.”

Posted Thursday February 23, 2017 by Melinda Penkava


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