So Here’s the Scoop

The problem of dog droppings in public parks had required some fancy footwork in SantaClarita until city officials decided to bag it.

The city is now providing all eight city parks with bags--actually, small green and red plastic devices called Dispoz-A- Scoops--so that dog owners can take the problem in hand.

Park users and city officials say the idea is working.

Elizabeth Hall, who lives in the Vista Fairways Townhomes across the street from a small parkway where the scoopers are dispensed, said the dog dropping problem is just about cleared up.

“People used to just come and walk the dogs there, and we live across the street and it smelled so bad,” she said with a giggle. But now, she said, the neighbors are no longer bothered by odors.

Frank Hogan, the city’s parks supervisor, said the idea of providing the scoopers at city parks came after frustrated park users complained about the dog problem. He said park officials learned about the scoopers from a pamphlet that was mailed to City Hall.

Hogan estimates that dog owners in the city have used about 5,000 scoopers since the program began. At about 21 cents per scooper, that comes to about $1,050 to keep Santa Clarita’s parks user-friendly, he said.

“The reality is that people have dogs and they don’t like carrying a shovel around,” he said. “And above and beyond that, what do you do with it when you have picked it up?”

He said the scoopers are small enough and easy enough to handle that people can comfortably carry the offending matter to a garbage can.

The Dispoz-A-Scoops are made by Petpro Products Inc. of Santa Monica and are advertised as the “environmentally-friendly super scooper.” And just to make sure they are used properly, the company has included illustrations and instructions on the scoop’s handle:

“Scoop, push down to seal, dispose.”