Main Street Rogers Wants Poop Scooped

[bigdoglover]

The Morning News

By Lori Harrison-Stone

ROGERS -- Poopin’ in the park has been a problem at Pickin’ in the Park on Saturday evenings, but a proposal to require dog owners to clean up after their pets may help.

Irvelene Khone said Friday there were a lot of complaints at last week’s event. Several people brought their dogs, which Khone said is just fine, but the dogs created a number of messes that weren’t picked up and subsequently were stepped in.

She and her husband, Ben, who helped start the Pickin’ in the Park program at the downtown Rogers Frisco Park, were “bombarded” with complaints when they arrived around 9 p.m.

The community event welcomes the musically inclined and spectators from 6 to 10 p.m. every Saturday night during the summer. It’s a free event sponsored by Main Street Rogers.


Marge Wolf, president of Main Street Rogers, proposed the change in the city’s leash law that will be considered Tuesday by the Rogers City Council. The city law already makes it illegal for dogs to run at large, but the additional language proposed by Wolf will specifically require dog owners to remove dog feces in the downtown Historic District and Frisco Park.

“We’re kind of adding a pooper scooper law to the Historic District or Frisco Park,” Wolf said.

She noted that dogs are welcome at the event, but they need to be on a leash and the owners need to clean up. Downtown Rogers is a gathering place for the community and it should be respected so that everyone can enjoy events, shopping or just strolling through the park, Wolf said.

Khone said she hopes the dog owners will get the message but also know that they’re more than welcome to continue attending Pickin’ in the Park with their dogs.


“It’s just become a real nuisance,” Khone said. “People don’t want to walk through that kind of stuff.”

The Rogers City Council’s Resources and Policy Committee will discuss the pending change to the ordinance in a 6:15 p.m. meeting prior to Tuesday’s regular council session.