A proposal to temporarily turn part of Austin’s Emma Long Park into an off-leash dog area has been voted down.
City staffers suggested at the parks board meeting Tuesday night that part of Emma Long Metropolitan Park be turned into a temporary off-leash dog area, but parks board members didn’t like the idea.
The Parks Department wanted to find another spot where dogs could run free because it’s planning to close the popular off-leash area at Bull Creek District Park for six months starting in November.
The department is closing Bull Creek park to replant and restore vegetation there, and because water sampling has shown high levels of E. coli, which city staffers say is the result of dog waste in the creek.
Read the rest here.
Dog poop is a hot topic here in Austin. Like the article above mentions, one of the most popular off-leash dog areas, Red Bud Isle, is going to be closed for six months to clean it up. Not everyone is happy about it either. Dog owners are getting blamed for not picking up after their dogs, but there is also quite a bit of non dog-related trash in the park that needs to be cleaned up. The park is a mess!
In an attempt to combat the poop problem, the city recently rolled out their Scoop The Poop Austin campaign. The idea is to make people aware of the health problem caused by dog waste – and encourage them to pick up after their dogs.
The Scoop the Poop folks are getting the word out through tv ads, their website, print materials, and a Facebook page. There’s even a larger than life poop shovel in a field in Zilker Park, a popular Austin park.
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