Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
Dog owners beware – the next time your pooch does his business in someone else’s yard and you don’t pick it up, you could be slapped with a $25 fine.
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve an ordinance requiring dog owners or persons walking any dog to pick up their dogs’ poop on public or private property.
According to the ordinance, the owner or keeper of a dog, or any person walking or otherwise in charge of a dog, will be fined for failure to remove dog poop deposited by the dog on any street, sidewalk, park or other publicly owned area, or on any private property. The ordinance does not apply on property owned by the owner or keeper of the dog but applies to common areas in any multi-family residential developments.
Board members decided to make it a civil penalty rather than a criminal penalty as initially proposed.
Board member Jackie Gist said she didn’t support criminalizing dog poop.
“Having come out anti five story, I don’t want to be pro dog poop,†she said, referring to the board’s recent approval of downtown developments. However: “I don’t know if having a law against it is even practical. I don’t want to have laws that are unenforceable.â€
Gist suggested having baskets with bags for dog poop along the town’s major sidewalks.
“Before we get to the criminal part of it, I’d like to see us have public education,†she said.
Mayor Mark Chilton said he felt it was important that the board set expectations for the town.
“I think there are some times and places where it really is up to us to outline what sort of social norms are acceptable,†he said. “As our town has become more densely populated, I think this will become more and more of an issue.â€
Board member John Herrera agreed.
“There are some folks who just don’t care,†he said. “It has to be on the books; otherwise, people will not respect it.â€
Board member Randee Haven-O’Donnell said she would like the board also to consider the issue of cat poop in sandboxes at a later date. Cats often use sandboxes as litter boxes and unaware parents allow their children to play in them, she said.
“The cat owners also need to be responsible,†she said, adding that the issue is of “great hygienic concern.â€
In other town business, the board received a report from the Carrboro Parks Project on the fundraising efforts for a disc golf course at Anderson Park. According to Katie Allman, a representative from the Carrboro Parks Project, the project has raised about $4,000 of the $8,500 needed to design, purchase and install the course.
Zach Ward of DSI Comedy Theater donated about $2,700 of the funds raised thus far.
To help raise the remainder of the needed funds, the Carrboro Parks Project will hold a fundraising disc golf tournament on Nov. 2 at the UNC disc golf course. The tournament will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the entry fee is $30 including lunch.
I guess this means Carrboro will outlaw dog parks? Or hire a LEO to patrol them?
This is an amazing bit of legislation, really.
put a cover on your damn sandbox when you’re not using it!
(sounds like a personal gripe with a neighbor’s cat?)
We have larger problems that need to be addressed, don’t you think?