Downtown residents now have a place for their pooch to go poop.
To address the growing dog population in that part of town and the spike in feces appearing on sidewalks, the City of New Westminster has installed a dog relief station at the southeast corner of Begbie and Columbia streets.
The designated area, roughly the size of a parking stall, is part of a one-year trial project. The relief station has a blue fence on three sides and is located within a garden bed, which is fully equipped with an irrigation system. It contains artificial turf specifically designed for the do-do business.
“We’ve put in 400 pounds of deodorizer,” parks and recreation manager Jay Young told the Record. “It’s activated when it gets wet, so the smell should be reduced down to a minimum.”
A bag dispenser has been installed at the site for anyone interested in leaving extra bags behind. The city chose not to provide free bags because it would have been an “enormous cost,” Young said, and it would invite thieves to steal the supply.
“We still have too many bags being left behind. Lack of bags has never been a problem.”
Young said prior to the installation, his department received a lot of complaints about feces in the streets, especially from the New West Business Improvement Area.
“There are a lot of bridal shops (downtown). That is a key area of the city, a historic area of the city we wanted to keep looking nice and pristine,” he said, noting the idea for the doggy washroom came from a co-worker who saw the same initiative in New York City. “Having to dodge a minefield makes it challenging.”
Young encourages pet owners not to use the relief station as a place to exercise or socialize their four-legged friends. Rather, do the deed and get out. And like the city’s off-leash areas, dog owners are expected to clean up the mess.
“I’ve been down there twice. Both times, someone used it right way. It worked well. I watched the dog go to the bathroom. Both times they were in and out under 30 seconds,” he explained.
Reaction, however, hasn’t been all positive. Social media posts have called the city “nuts.”
“That’s why we’re testing it,” said Young, who speculated the poo problem on sidewalks was in part due to a lack of greenspace in the downtown core.
The city, meanwhile, estimated the project cost $8,000 to build.
