News & Updates from the park

Winnipeg Dog Fest – Spring 2014

Posted by Kilcona Park Dog Club / in Events, Information, News /

Winnipeg Dog Fest
Saturday, June 7th
11am to 2pm
at
Kilcona Dog Park

Love your dog? …Of course you do!
So why not take him to lunch at KPDC’s new gourmet “paw-pup” restaurant in the park.
Sit! Stay! Feast! at the Grand Opening of Happy Dog’s “Bone Appetit” Bistro and Bar.

Photo credit: Vince Pahkala

Treat yourself Winnipeg’s finest quality burgers and custom-smoked meats from
KPDC’s Gold Sponsors JD Hoggs and Kelmar Meats and Deli.

Delicious and healthy – we feature free-range, hormone, antibiotic, gluten & lactose-free
meat products sourced from small Manitoba producers.

KPDC invites you to join in the fun and festivities, contests and prizes!
Enjoy the entertainment – Sammy Mar’s SMARTDOGS in action.

Take the family on a geo-caching dog-themed treasure hunt in Kilcona’s off-leash area.
Be transformed into your favorite pet at Royal Lepage Prime’s face painting booth.
Pick up your passport to adventure and visit KPDC’s sponsors and partners to win.
Shop ‘till you drop!

On a more serious note – only 20% of un-chipped dogs are returned safely to their owners. Dr. Keri Hudson Reykdal’s Mobile Clinic will be at Dog Fest, providing low-cost injectable microchips to increase the odds your dog will return home safely.

At the end of the day remember it all with a family photo at Pawcasso’s Studio.

Invoking Rain Date for Spring Clean Up

Posted by Kilcona Park Dog Club / in Information, News /

KPDC’s Poo Crew organizers have decided it best to postpone the Spring Clean-up until Sunday – same time, same place. 11:00 am until 2:00 pm

The forecast for tomorrow morning is calling for 2 degrees but with winds gusting to 54 so it will feel like minus 4 and clean-ups are no fun when it’s cold, windy and raining.

Sunday promises to be a nicer day. It will still be cool, but no rain and the winds will drop right off.  Park staff will be there to help us.

Volunteers will have a chance to win a $50 McPhillips Animal Hospital gift certificate and there are prizes for 12 and under – soccer balls and popcorn coupons. The draws will be at 2pm.
Here’s all you need to do.
1.    Grab a Kitchen Catcher and latex gloves.
2.    Fill the bag.
3.    Take it to the collection depot either in the parking lot or the park.
4.    Get a draw ticket for each bag you bring in.
5.    Write your name and phone number on the stub.
6.    Keep the ticket & drop the stub in the draw bin.

Please join us. Responsible pet ownership reflects well on everyone!

WINDOG Launch covered in the news

Posted by Kilcona Park Dog Club / in Information, News /

Today CBC News broke the story launching the Winnipeg Network of Dog Owner Groups (WINDOG).

WINDOG is the new advocacy coalition that is working with dog parks clubs like KPDC to make Winnipeg a more “dog friendly” community. By working together through WINDOG, individual clubs have a much stronger the voice in our efforts to secure  more and better off-leashed areas that are  properly serviced, safe, attractive,and well-maintained.

WINDOG has been publicly endorsed by Winnipeg Humane Society’s CEO Bill McDonald. It has also organized three new dog park clubs at Brenda Leipsic, Charleswood and Bourkevale.

WINDOG will be working very hard over the next six months to elect a dog-friendly Mayor and Council. If we are going to be successful in getting the improvements we want for Kilcona and other dog parks in the city,

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-dog-park-group-wants-dog-friendly-city-hall-1.2627634

 

 

It’s Easy Being Green with KPDC’s Newest Platinum Sponsor

Posted by Kilcona Park Dog Club / in Features, Information, News /

Make Every Day Earth Day!

It’s Easy Being Green with KPDC’s Newest Platinum Sponsor

Want to go green AND save money? Of course you do! When you buy an Interstate Battery you’re doing both!

…and Interstate will pay you to recycle your old car battery. We call that a win-win-win!

KPDC salutes its newest platinum sponsor for taking environmental stewardship to a whole new level and for making our world a little greener and cleaner.

At Interstate, green is more than a colour – it’s the company’s highest standard for protecting the environment. Interstate is North America’s leading recycler of lead-acid batteries.

KPDC member, Amanda Darlington is Interstate’s Assistant Operations Manager. She’s proud that for every automotive or lead-acid battery Interstate sells, the company recycles four.

Interstate Operations Manager, Einar Sandland and Assistant Operations Manager Amanda Darlington

Interstate accepts automotive, alkaline, cellphone, laptop and other consumer batteries. Their convenient East Kildonan location – Suite G-10 Keenleyside –  makes “going green” easy.

With a reputation for top-quality products and consistently reliable service, Interstate Batteries is North America’s Number One replacement brand battery. The company sells more than 16,000 kinds of batteries—from AAA alkalines, automotive and industrial batteries to critical power solutions, and everything in between.

 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle…and Rethink

Automotive and household batteries – whether they power our cell phones, laptops, or flashlights – are an essential part of our everyday lives. The average Canadian home uses 26 different battery-powered devices. As you read this, you’ve likely got half a dozen different batteries within easy reach.

Ever stop to consider what happens to old batteries and why you, as a dog owner, should care?

Not long ago, Kilcona Dog Park was an industrial wasteland – an “out of sight, out of mind” corner of the city where Winnipeggers disposed of their household garbage and junk.

 

In 1987 the dump was closed and capped with eight feet of clay. Old batteries, tires, toxic pesticides, petroleum products and other hazardous materials lie buried beneath the off-leash area.

Thirty years later, chunks of decomposing garbage still break through the surface. Pipes from deep inside the landfill spew plumes of methane gas that foul the air and contribute to global warming. Water quality signs warn us to keep our dogs out of Kilcona’s retention ponds.

Heavy metals and other contaminants from spent batteries wreak havoc on the environment, and harm people and animals that come in contact with them. An automobile battery contains about a gallon of sulfuric acid, three pounds of plastic and 21 pounds of lead. Batteries contain other hazardous materials that leach into soil, surface water and groundwater.

Interstate recycles 99% of these materials. Lead is reprocessed to make plates for new batteries, and reclaimed plastic is used for new covers and cases. Battery acid is re-used or neutralized, treated and re-claimed as water.

Interstate exceeds Environment Canada’s standards for the safe handling, transportation and recycling of old batteries. All lead is recycled at approved North American smelters, operating under stringent government regulations. None is processed off-shore.

 

Interstate accepts automotive, alkaline, cellphone, laptop and other consumer batteries. Their convenient East Kildonan location makes “going green” easy.

And just how dependable are Interstate batteries?   Outrageously Dependable®!

Green Means “Go” When It’s 40 below!

Check out this clever YouTube video to see why your next battery should be an Interstate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctB6E_3OyCM

Here’s a brainteaser: how many household batteries were sold in Canada in 2012?

A)      750 million

B)      225 million

C)      One billion

If you guessed A, you’re right. That’s a lot of used batteries making their way into landfills.

There’s no Poop Fairy!

Posted by president@kilconaparkdogclub.ca / in Information /

Recently there have been howls of protest over the ever-increasing amount of dog feces at the park. Some Kilcona dog owners have suggested that someone needs to do something about it. Several have written to me, hoping I might be that “someone”.

I’d like to share what KPDC will and won’t be doing about the problem but first…a reminder. On March 1 last year, filthy conditions in both the off-leash and on-leash areas, and dog owners’ complaints, prompted Kilcona Park Dog Club’s Board to hold an emergency park clean up. It was the first time a winter park clean-up had been necessary.

The Board called the emergency clean-up because we did not want to give the City any reason to shut down Kilcona’s off-leash area.We knew the City had the authority to close an off-leash area “where there is a consistent violation of the requirement to pick up feces”.

Volunteers spent the weekend picking up other people’s dog poop. A biting wind and bone-chilling temperatures made the job of chiselling unclaimed dog feces out of the ice extremely unpleasant!

Even more unpleasant was the fact that although many people were walking their dogs at Kilcona that weekend, they simply walked right by our volunteers. Less than a dozen dog owners cared enough to pitch in.

KPDC’s Directors, two realtors from Corporate Sponsor Royal Lepage, Rosemary Meacham, Toni Zacharias – who doesn’t even own a dog – and a couple of other dedicated club members were the only volunteers who helped out.

 

KPDC Directors Tanya Hirsch and Jeff Henry, and club members Lee-Ann and Toni Zacharias

 

Directors Wayne L’Esperance, Craig Handkamer and Jeff Henry organize the emergency clean-up

 

KPDC Emergency Park Clean-up Volunteer Rosemary Measham

In April, a pitiful turn out at the Annual Spring Clean-Up – once again KPDC Directors and a couple of club members – prompted the Board to rethink its role as Kilcona’s Poop Fairy. The Board decided last September’s fall clean-up would be the last one of the year. With so little support for the club’s stewardship activities we agreed not to hold a winter clean-up.

What KPDC Will Do To Address the Problem

The Board is fundraising and working with one of our corporate sponsors to purchase aluminum dog waste bag dispensers that will be installed along the trails. The sponsor has agreed to supply the bags on an ongoing basis if park staff keep the dispensers full.

The Board will  continue to sponsor spring and fall clean-ups BUT only if Kilcona dog owners pitch in. We don’t have a date for the spring clean-up. It will depend on the spring melt. The land needs to be dry and dog waste needs to be “pick-up-able.” Watch the website and Facebook for updates on the clean-up and please volunteer your time. A good turnout at the spring clean-up will ensure the club continues to host park stewardship events.

The Board will continue to promote picking up as part of its responsible pet ownership education initiates.

The Board will continue to encourage self-policing with programs like the “Number Two” Clue and “Second Bag” programs. Studies have shown that community self-policing is the only effective way to get people to clean up after their dogs. Until responsible Kilcona dog owners do that consistently, the irresponsible ones will continue to ignore the law.

Please be part of the solution. Bring a whistle to the park and blow it to alert distracted or irresponsible dog owners that they need to pick up. Bring extra bags and offer one to those in need. Use one of them to pick up an extra pile each time you visit the park.

For those of you who’ve asked how to report dog owners that don’t pick up, here are Winnipeg Animal Services instructions.

Call  311 and provide:

• Your name, address and phone number
• The address where the dog lives (311 confirms they’ll accept a vehicle license number)
• The date and time that you saw the dog defecating off its property
• A description of the dog

Animal Services investigates every complaint. Please note that the agency does not respond to anonymous complaints.

Donna Henry

President – Kilcona Park Dog Club