When enjoying a walk in one of Ottawa’s public parks, the last thing a person wants is to be greeted with the squish of freshly laid dog poop beneath their feet.
The city of Ottawa received over 650 service requests regarding people neglecting to stoop and scoop after their pets, according to data from Ottawa’s 2016 monthly service requests.
Kanata South had the most complaints with 66—making up nearly 10 per cent of the requests received for the entire city. The city received over 13 requests for every 10,000 residents in Kanata South.
Rideau-Vanier, the ward with the most requests regarding animals overall, had 10 less than Kanata South with only 56.
Allan Hubley, the councillor for the Kanata South Ward said that he was shocked with the statistics.
He said that Kanata South is the cleanest ward in the city. “We won the award five times since I’ve been elected in 2010.”
He claimed that the key to their cleanliness is that the ward expects its residents to clean up after themselves, and their pets.
Hubley said that he believes that the ward’s large number of parks could be the source of the high number of requests.
He said that stoop and scoop is a major concern for the area, not only for sanitary reasons, but for the ward’s frequent park-goers.
“Young people tend to hang out in the parks in the evening and meet their friends and play sports in the park. And when there’s poop all over the soccer field, that’s not too nice for the kids that are playing there,” said Hubley.
The ward received the majority of its stoop and scoop service requests in June, which Hubley says is not entirely surprising.
He said that with Ottawa’s cold winter weather, many pet owners do no pick up after their pets due to the low temperatures, snow, and ice. Then the excrement will freeze and get covered with snow. Making it invisible until the temperature changes and winter turns into spring.
Hubley added that he expects the same for this year, as this winter season has been particularly harsh.
Stoop and scoop is a regulation that appears on the city of Ottawa’s Animal Care and Control By-law. According to the by-law, pet owners must immediately pick up any feces that have been left on public property including parks, and roadways.
The by-law also covers any privately owned area that does not belong to the pet owner.
Media relations for the city of Ottawa said via email that people who neglect to stoop and scoop on any city property could be subject to a fine.
When asked about the scoop and stoop service requests for Kanata South specifically or any other questions surrounding the issue, they refused to comment.
Councillor Hubley said that first time transgressors could face fines of up to $75, which increases with the amount of stop and scoop violations that a person has.
He added that during the summer months that students work as by-law officers to help combat this issue.
“They walk around the pathways in the park all spring, summer and fall, until it’s time to go back to school and they issue tickets for anyone who’s not picking up the poop.”
Hubley said that he does not expect Kanata South to lose the title of Ottawa’s cleanest Ward anytime soon. But he urged residents to help with the stoop and scoop issue by calling 3-1-1 or snapping a picture and sending it to him or the city in order to keep the ward as clean as possible.