Thank you to all those who attended the Shirlington CCA (dog park) meeting last
week. Here are some notes from the meeting and information on the clean up day.
Thanks to Bob Upton from the County Parks Dept, who was kind enough to arrange
the
meeting space for us.
Several attendees indicated they would help with day-to-day upkeep of the park
including
putting out bags, moving the trash receptacle from inside the park to the
entrance area in
the evening so the county can empty it and moving it back to inside the park
once it has
been emptied in the morning, and maintaining the bulletin board.
Each Community Canine Area (CCA) must have an active sponsoring group. For the
Shirlington CCA it is "Shirlington Dogs II". It is our responsibility to keep
the park clean
and adhere to the rules for CCAs. Copies of the rules were handed out to
everyone. They
are located on our group site under "Files" on the left. They are also posted
on the
bulletin board in the park with copies to take as well.
Highlighted most critical ones:
• Everyone is responsible for picking up their dog's waste using plastic bags
and
disposing properly in the large black receptacles. DO NOT place in the green
mailboxes.
Those are for clean bags only.
• Keep your dogs in sight at all times. A lot of dog waste is not being picked
up because
handlers are not watching their dogs. It is okay and encouraged to point out to
someone
who has not picked up after their dog.
• Aggressive dogs are not allowed in the CCAs. If a dog is posing a threat to
humans or
other animals it must be removed from the park.
• Report any dog bites as soon as possible to Animal Control, 703-931-9241.
This and other important phone numbers are posted on the bulletin board.
A few months ago a number of dogs coming in contact with the stream were getting
sick
from a parasite called Giardia. This occurs naturally in streams and the County
Environmental Services does not test for it. It is usually spread by fecal
matter so another
important reason to pick up after your dog.
I had applied for a county Park Enhancement Grant to have a drainage trench put
in were
the water spigot is to prevent standing water and muddy conditions in that area
of the
park and to fix the low area of the path where water collects after it rains and
turns to
mud. This was approved by the county and hopefully work will get started by end
of
summer.
The spigot is there to provide drinking water for the dogs. Please turn spigot
off
immediately so as not to cause flooding in the area and to not waste water.
Bathing and
grooming dogs is not allowed in the park
We will be having a Clean Up Day on Saturday May 19 starting at 11:00. We will
pick up
any trash in the park, sweep the path, clean the area around the bulletin board
and spigot.
Please bring work gloves and if you can, some strong trash bags. If you have a
heavy duty
push broom you can bring that would helpful as well. Hope to see you there.
But you don't have to wait until the 19th, if you see any trash when you're at
the park with
Fido, please feel free to pick it up.
Keith Fred