KPDC Events

KPDC Board Asks For Your Help in Securing Future of Dog Park

KPDC’s Board of Directors offers its thanks to the great volunteers and Kilcona park staff who came out on Saturday with picks, shovels, pails and bags to do what no one wants to spend their weekend doing – picking up other people’s dog poop!

A biting wind created bone-chilling conditions that made the job even more unpleasant. On behalf of the thousands of dog owners who use the park on a regular basis, Poo Crew volunteers picked up hundreds of bags of unclaimed dog poop. We assure you – this was not a pleasant task.

Filthy conditions in both the off-leash and on-leash areas prompted this weekend’s clean-up. It’s the first time a winter park clean-up has been necessary. Use of the off-leash area has increased dramatically and some dog owners are still refusing to pick up. Others are simply not keeping an eye on their dogs.

KPDC members have identified the growing amount of unclaimed dog poop as the number one issue in the park. It’s an ongoing concern for other groups who share the park, and for the City administration.

The Board warns that the unsanitary conditions that made the clean-up necessary is a cause for concern for all dog owners who use the park. If we continue to ignore the problem of irresponsible dog owners who refuse to pick up, there could be serious consequences for the future of Kilcona’s off-leash area.

Irresponsible dog owners have seriously damaged our reputation and credibility as a park user group.

The City is in the process of developing a new management plan for Kilcona and current uses are not “etched in stone”. The plan is designed to set the direction for the park for the next ten to twenty years. Many groups are competing for limited space and there will be changes.

The City has the authority to close down an off-leash area where there is a consistent violation of the requirement to pick up feces. Let’s not provide them with a reason to do that.

Do your part to protect the off-leash area for future generations. Help make Kilcona the cleanest dog park in Winnipeg. Join KPDC’s Number Two Clue Crew – bring a whistle to the park and blow it to alert distracted or irresponsible dog owners that they need to pick up. Be part of KPDC’s Second Bag Program – bring extra bags and offer them to those in need. Use one of them to pick up an extra pile each time you visit the park.

Your park is much cleaner. Let’s keep it that way!

Clean-Up Day Images

Turbo Handkamer supervises Poo Crew organizers – KPDC Director of Events Wayne L’Esperance, Treasurer Craig Handkamer and Director of Marketing Jeff Henry

Rosemary Measham spends hours cleaning up the north slope

Craig Handkamer begins filling the first of many poop buckets

Ron Gilkes delivers garbage bags to volunteers

KPDC Director of Membership, Tanya Hirsch and smiling assistant take a well-deserved break

Hurry up and fill that pail…I wanna  go walkies!

Clean-up day doesn’t have to be all work!

End of day – cold, tired Poo Crew volunteers leave a trail of bags along the service road.

Volunteers Jeff Henry, Tanya Hirsch, and Lee-Ann and Toni Zacharias with Hudson and Hercules

Tanya Hirsch and Lee-Ann Zacharias congratulate  event organizer, Wayne L’Esperance.