BEATTIE PINERY, ALLISTON—Ontario Parks has recently taken steps to replace the mulch on a local walking path with 4,500 tonnes of imported canine excrement. A land survey indicated the makeup of the trail had reached a tipping point where dog feces outweighed the wood-chip mixture previously used.
“It’s a technical science,” Dr. Kerry Morneau, who headed the initiative, told reporters. “You want the trail to be comprised of a single substance. Efforts to convince dog owners to be responsible proved not only unrealistic but costly. We’re having much better luck convincing people to carry on being irresponsible.”
Though Ontario Parks imported truckloads of high-quality organic dog manure to jump-start the initiative, it is hoping regular maintenance will come from community-minded citizens.
“What we need is for local people, and especially their dogs, to give back to the community,” Michelle Long, the manager of operational park maintenance and regional team assistant to the sub-lead, told sources.
“Animal scat, such as that made from a dog, naturally decomposes over time and becomes a fertile compost in which plants and insects can thrive,” Dr. Morneau indicated. “And that's exactly what we don't need. That is why we'll need everyone and their dog to pitch in. It’s going to take a village.”
After people observed out-of-county youngsters energetically photographing the scene, some believe it is only a matter of time before tourists overrun the area.
Others remain unconvinced. Senior citizen, Betty Hines, slipped yesterday on the new trail and waited hours for help to arrive. She wants an answer to one simple question: “Why can't people clean up after their dogs?”
But Michelle Long believes Hines is thinking about the issue in the wrong way.
“Can you imagine people picking up poop merely for the betterment of the trail they're currently enjoying? It's ridiculous. Now, can you imagine people not picking up poop for the betterment of the trail? Well, yes, you can.”
Long says the experimental project is all about positive affirmation. One indeed catches more flies with honey than vinegar, but how about a hiking trail lined with defecating dogs?
Skeptics are saying it's a slippery slope.
Park officials, young people, and dog lovers are not the only ones interested in the initiative, which has been dubbed Trails Under the Refuse of Dogs (T.U.R.D.s, for short.) There has also been an uptick in natural scientists observing the Northern Barrens tiger beetle, a rare endangered species that appears to be making a resurgence on the new trail.
The Alliston Gerald asked Dr. Morneau what recommendations his team has for people who witness ill-doers dumping wood chips on the trail.
“Well, I would hope they would have the courage and decency to tell them to pick it up,” the doctor told reporters. “As that could ruin the hike for everyone.”
Comments