I lived on a downtown street in Victoria when I was going to university. It was beautiful. The street was lined with cherry blossoms that would be blooming right about now and the daffodils, tulips and hyacinths would be poking up through the soil. Spring is a beautiful time of year in Victoria. Not so in Prince George.
I think that I've demonstrated through the previous columns that I've written that I love Prince George. I love the city and the people and most of what we have here in town. I don't love spring in Prince George. Though winter is melting away, the snow that remains is dirty and in the way. The grass that is being revealed is matted, brown and covered in an inch of road dirt. No early spring crocuses in the North. We have dog poop instead.
If I could change one thing about the city and the people who own dogs here, I would have stiffer penalties for people who don't pick up their dog's leavings. It is disgusting.
Last weekend, my family and I took a quick walk on the UNBC Greenway Trail. There's still a bit of snow left but it's fairly packed and easy to walk on with the exception of the dog poop littering nearly every inch of the trail. y son is almost two years old and loves to go for walks and loves to explore new things. I am not very keen on having to play hopscotch with a toddler, dodging the puppy bombs on the trail. It's a great trail to walk and we will go back in the summer once the doggy droppings have composted enough to be able to walk a straight line.
I am a dog owner. We own a large lab-chow cross and we pick up after she goes. I encourage all dog owners to do so (even if you're on a trail in the bush). If we would like to change the image of our city, we need a collective effort. We need to work together to make our city nicer. I suggest that we start by picking up after our pets.
