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Dogs are now banned from the popular boardwalk in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue.
Ste-Anne Mayor Paola Hawa said the city implemented the ban because some dog owners were not picking up after their pooches on the scenic boardwalk.
“Unfortunately it is with great hesitation and after a lot of discussion and debate . . . that we had to be Solomon and just make the decision,” said the mayor
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The city was receiving complaints from upset citizens who were “walking in it,” said Hawa.
It’s not the first time Ste-Anne has made its boardwalk off-limits to canines.
Dogs were not permitted there from 1988 to 2013, Hawa noted.
“At that point in time, we decided to give it a shot to see if we could allow them at specific times,” she said
“In 2014, the summer after we allowed that little leeway, we noticed that people we’re not picking up after their dogs. So what we did is try and encourage them to respect the bylaws. We put in poop-bag dispensers; they cost about $500 each, so they’re not cheap.
“(But) that still didn’t work. And it’s not only on the boardwalk. It’s on our streets. It’s little but everywhere. And it just got to the point where we spent a lot of money upkeeping the boardwalk, be it in terms of flowers…and wood. (The boardwalk) is our bread-and-butter.”
Hawa said residents are “quietly” supporting the boardwalk dog ban.
“Let’s understand that the people who are going to complain (about dog poop on the boardwalk) are going to be a lot quieter because there’s a stigma attached to complaining about something that relates to a dog. People automatically call you a dog hater, and people have already called us dog haters.”
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“But quietly in the background, people say, ‘Good for you’.”
The mayor said the onus is on dog owners to pick up after their pets.
“Everybody has a responsibility to pick up after their dogs. If they can’t pick up after their dogs, then too bloody bad.
“It’s public hygiene, it’s also public cleanliness. Really, do you want to be walking on the boardwalk and step in poop?”
Hawa said there is a dog run located in nearby St-Pierre Park in the southern sector of Ste-Anne, and another will be built in the northern sector.
“We should really highlight that even though the wooden portion of the boardwalk is off-limits, the entire Parks Canada canal area is still accessible to dogs,” Hawa said.
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