Beacon gets tougher with pet waste cleanup

Owners must have baggies on them

By Maeleeke J. Lavan
Poughkeepsie Journal

BEACON -- Residents may be able to step with a little more confidence on city lawns and sidewalks.

The Beacon City Council Monday passed an amendment to a local law that requires pet owners to pick up after their pets.

The council took action in response to a number of complaints to the city's Safe, Clean and Attractive Committee that city sidewalks were littered with animal waste.

On Monday, the council held a public hearing and unanimously made additions to a local law requiring owners who walk pets on public streets to be equipped with the necessary tools to clean up after them. Lee Kyriacou, D-councilman-at-large, did not attend the meeting.

The original law did not mandate owners carry implements to clean up waste and left enforcement to ''catch the dog in the act,'' before enforcement could occur.

Under the new law, repeat violators could receive fines and even jail time.

The roughly 30 residents at the meeting didn't show any opposition to the law.

Former council member and resident Don Gallo, who supports the law, said residents should take responsibility for their pets.

''This is a quality of life issue and it all goes toward respect,'' Gallo said. ''I don't think you should have to enforce that.''

The Village of New Paltz passed a similar law in April 2001 that requires dog owners to remove feces left on public or private property.

Pets in Beacon are allowed in Riverfront Park as long as they're picked up after. Not everyone walks there and problems have spread up to Main Street.

''They were saying the sidewalks were getting disgusting,'' Mayor Clara Lou Gould said of complaints received. ''We allowed them to use Riverfront but they have to make sure they stay on the path and clean up ... otherwise it's too much.''

Before the additions were made, Gould said she's seen some residents who were already prepared.

''Their dogs were all socializing,'' she said of residents she saw on Main Street last week. ''And they all had their bags.''

AT A GLANCE
PENALTIES
Pet owners in violation of the law are subject to a $50 fine for the first offense, $100 for the second offense and $250 for subsequent offenses with the possibility of up to 15 days in jail.