Those bags of dog poop you see along trails? Others hate them, too

Recent discussions on Facebook and the neighborhood-oriented social media site NextDoor show a growing concern about dogs and the things they – and their owners – leave behind on streets, parks and trails.

There’s disdain not only for those who neglect to bag their dog’s feces, but also for those who bag it and then leave it behind. Some dog owners say there’s an explanation, and seek more trash cans so they don’t have to carry their dog’s waste for an entire hike.

“I don’t understand bagging it up but not picking it up,” said Roni Eis Clapp of Sudden Valley, who noted she’s seeing more bags of poop by the roadside and along trails, mostly in rural areas.

“I live on the spit at Semiahmoo in Blaine and we had recently been discussing this,” Brian Bott wrote in an email. “We can’t understand why they bag it and then leave it on the path rather than taking it to a receptacle.”

Stefanie Rotmark of Bellingham said she sometimes sees bags of dog poop along trails, but finds it more frequently unbagged in her Happy Valley neighborhood.

“I moved here from Port Angeles where the trails are terribly littered with both animal waste and more sinister refuse and where the pets are always roaming free,” Rotmark wrote in response to a social media inquiry for this story. “So, from my perspective, Bellingham’s city parks in my neighborhood are very clean and even with the occasional bag here and there, I feel like the residents are putting forth an effort to clean up after their pets on the trails.”

Several dog owners said they bag their dog’s feces, leave it trailside, but return later to dispose of the bag.

“If my dog poops at the beginning of my walk, I’ll bag it, leave it to the side, and pick it up on my way back instead of walking 5-6 miles with a bag of poop,” said Wendy Schatz.

Emily Peter of Bellingham agrees.

“I know if my dog poops on the start of a walk I’ll bag it and leave it so I don’t have to carry smelly poop for miles,” she said.

Others think that’s a cop-out.

“Perhaps people have intentions of going back for the bag (or they just claim they are going back for it),” said Dean Drake of Bellingham. “But much of it gets left behind for someone else to have to clean up or it ends up as waste in the ecosystem – which, if you think about it, is actually worse than not bagging at all.”

Many dog owners said they want the city to set more trash cans along its trails, especially within a few hundred yards of trailheads, where canines seem to get the urge to go.

“With the understanding that trail maintenance is woefully underfunded, it would be helpful if there were more trash cans available on the trails,” said Christy Newland of Bellingham.

Bellingham parks workers are finding an increase in bagged dog feces left in city parks, and many residents call to complain, said Leslie Bryson, director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

City laws require dog owners to bag their dog’s feces and place it in the trash. Violators face fines of up to $500, Bryson said.

“It is the law, and the pet owner’s responsibility to: Carry a bag, pick up the poop, dispose of it properly,” Bryson said in an email. “Besides being gross and unsightly, it is very harmful to fish, wildlife, and our drinking water source.”

But it’s almost impossible to enforce, and the city is relying heavily on volunteer “poop patrols” to keep parks clean.

Dogs in Whatcom County generate 30,000 pounds of poop every day, said Ginny Cleaveland of RE Sources for Sustainable Communities in Bellingham, which conducts poop patrol events aimed at protecting the watershed around several parks, including the city’s new Squalicum Creek Park in the sensitive wetlands bordering the Birchwood and Columbia neighborhoods.

“Pick it up. Bag it. Put it in the trash. It’s not compost,” Cleaveland said.

Lee First of RE Sources, who monitors the health of waters surrounding the Salish Sea in her position as the North Sound Baykeeper, talks to neighborhood associations and works with volunteers to keep Bellingham-area parks and trails clean. A state Department of Ecology grant helps with funding, because dog feces ultimately spread contamination into Bellingham Bay, she said.

“I have noticed a lot more of it too,” First said, referring to bags of poop. “I think people have good intentions. (But) they put it down and forget to pick it up.”

She said some dog owners are using new biodegradable cleanup bags in the mistaken belief that it’s OK for the environment.

“I don’t understand why people use biodegradable bags because it’s supposed to go in the trash,” First said. “The poop does degrade and it gets into the water. It’s sewage. It’s waste that can make people sick. Kids step in it. Most of our trails here are along water. It’s going to get in our water.”

Fecal coliform in dog feces is one of the biggest contaminants found in Whatcom County waters, she said. Poop washes down storm drains into Bellingham Bay and is partly to blame for shellfish harvest closings. It sickens children and others who wade and play in the water. Little Squalicum Beach has contamination warning signs, and the beaches at Marine Park and Larrabee State Park often see high contamination levels, she said.

First and volunteers from organizations such as the Whatcom Pet Care Network and Grateful Dogs regularly go to local parks and place small colored flags near “dog piles” to illustrate the problem for dog owners and others. After letting the flags sit for several hours and answering questions from passersby, the volunteers remove the poop.

On March 11, these “poop fairies” bagged 320 dog piles totaling 117 pounds of poop in the small dog area of Squalicum Creek Park.

“Most people are appreciative and surprised at how much poop there is,” she said, noting that education is often enough to change most people’s behavior.

“We’re not pointing fingers at at anybody,” First said. “(Water pollution is) also coming from septic systems, wildlife and farms. It’s important for everybody to do the right thing.”

For Martha Reece of Sudden Valley, that means carrying plastic bags and a rigid container to hold feces when she walks her pooch.

“Tupperware is your friend for full poop bags,” Reece wrote on social media. “Leave no trace doesn’t mean leave a trail of traces that you will retrace ... trace. You know what I mean.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Those bags of dog poop you see along trails? Others hate them, too."