WILMINGTON, MA — Wilmington Animal Control Officer Chris Sullivan posted the following message on his Department’s Facebook page on Tuesday:
Greetings,
So today I stopped at the dog park at the start of my shift, and I have to say I was very disappointed with what I found.
I counted 10 bags of waste that were not picked up: 7 in the large park and three in the small park. I also counted numerous bags that were thrown over the rear fence into the woods, as well as a few bags in the parking lot. Seems to me the situation is getting worse instead of improving.
I understand that a lot of owners from other towns come and use the park, and that they most likely don’t follow the posts that I make here. But for those of you that live in Wilmington, and use the park regularly and abide by all the rules, please speak up if you see an owner not pick up after their dog. It’s YOUR park to. Why do you want other people to ruin the experience for you and your dog(s)?
I go to the park when I can and when I’m there I try to ask owners how it’s going and if there are any issues, and they all say people not picking up after their dog is the biggest issue. Again, the park is also for you, the owner that constantly picks up after your dog, and always has the dog leashed outside of the park and always has the tags on the dogs collar. Please don’t let a few bad owners ruin it for all of you owners that follow the rules.
While I was at the park this afternoon, one of the Friends Of Wilmington Dog Park stopped in and proceeded to clean up ALL the bags plus whatever trash and waste that was not bagged. I know there are numerous owners who do this as well, and for this I am grateful. Scary to think what the park would be filled with and smell like if there weren’t people taking it upon themselves to clean up after EVERYBODY ELSE.
Lastly, I’d like to add that I have been quite lenient on enforcing some of the rules that are posted. Have I checked to make sure each and every dog has its tags? No I have not. Have there been children under the age of 13 in the park? Yes, sure has been. Have there been dogs younger than 6 months in the park? Probably.
But my hope is to have a fun and enjoyable park for your four legged friends. I don’t want to be down there asking owners to leave, and frankly, I don’t have the time to be down there for hours. That being said, if there is not some improvement in the removal of waste and trash, I suspect I will be. And for you owners that abide by all the rules, pass this along to other owners in the park. Get the word out.
Again, please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns.
Thank you,
Chris
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Why does the town just put a trash can there. I’m sure they can pay someone to empty it every week. It seems to me that a trash can would fix this problem because people are picking up after their dogs, there is just not a trash can for them to put their trash in. There were trash cans there before the dog park. All other fenced-in dog parks I have been to have trash cans and there isn’t a problem. Maybe wilmington should talk to the people that run the dog park in Gloucester at stage fort park because that dog park is always clean and has trash cans.
Well said. You made your point politely and gave credit where credit is due. I’m not a dog owner, and have not been to the park (although I do drive by it often), but it’s sad that there are people who think rules don’t apply to them. I’m assuming (although you don’t mention it) there is a waste receptacle at the park. How much more effort is required to make sure the bags go there? Cut the crap indeed.
Hi Bob,
There is no trash can at the park ( the Wilmington one) at this time. The town cites studies that say that having a trash can just makes more trash, and they also report that there is no funds for trash pick up. I wonder if it would be worth it to reach out to area businesses to see if they would sponsor the cost of a 1x week trash pick up,