JJ Ofrancia and his dog Pongo have been coming to the Paws-Abilities Place dog park in Richland for four years. He says if you own a dog, it’s your responsibility to pick up after them.
“It’s very important for people to pick up after their pets, it shouldn’t be someone else’s responsibility to pick up after your dog,” said Ofrancia.
Not only is it the right thing to do, but it can prevent other dogs from being exposed to parvovirus or parasites.
Dr. Sheila Erickson is a veterinarian at Horse Heaven Hills Pet Urgent Care. She says the most important way to protect your pets from parvovirus is to get them vaccinated.
“Parvovirus can live in feces so if you have a dog shedding the virus and it defecates and you don’t pick it up and another dog ingests it and is not protected then yes that is how the disease can be transmitted,” said Erickson.
She says there’s a big problem with parvo in the Tri-Cities area. The virus attacks dog’s digestive and immune systems, especially young ones.
Some apartment complexes, like The Commons at Innovation Center in Richland, use a special service where tenants are required to submit DNA samples from their pets that can be compared to feces that aren’t picked up.
Garrett Thiemens is the Senior Regional Manager at Prodigy Property Management. He says their company oversees about 2,000 doors in Tri-Cities.
“The company is called ‘No Vacancy,’ But it’s better known as Poo Prints,” said Thiemens.
He says responsible pet owners love this program, and it keeps the area clean. There is a cost for getting the pet waste sampled and owners are required to register their pets when they move in. When people move to other properties that use the service, their registration also carries over.
“Each one of the tenants brings their pet into the office. We take a swab, turn it into the program, they register the animal, and then when we turn in samples, those are linked, identified, and we’re alerted to the animal that was not picked up after by the tenant,” said Thiemens.
But if someone doesn’t clean it up, it’ll cost them 300 dollars.
The West Richland police department says they’ve been doing extra patrols at parks for the past few weeks after receiving a few complaints about poop being at local parks.
Officer Marissa Rodriguez is the Animal & Code Compliance Officer at the West Richland Police Department. She said she’s been going around local parks and educating pet owners.
“If you do forget a bag and you head home, just come back and take care of it. I mean, it’s your animal so that’s all we’re asking,” said Rodriguez.
In West Richland, the first offense could cost you 75 dollars, and a second could cost you 150.
Click on the city below to see the municipal codes for picking up after your pets in each city:
Municipal codes for PascoMunicipal codes for RichlandMunicipal codes for Kennewick
