THE "SCOOP" ON ARROYO SECO'S NEWS:
NO SCOOP REQUIRED. IT'S ALL "IN THE BAG"
Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council and Friends of Hermon Dog Park Team Up to Make the Council's Namesake Waterway Cleaner
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Jerry Scnieder, left, environmental rep for ASNC, Los Angeles City Councilmember José Huizar, center, and Arroyo Seco Watershed Coordinator Jeff Chapman, right, cut the ribbon on the newly installed dog waste bag dispersors in the Hermon Dog Park located along the Arroyo Seco. |
July 27, 2006 -- Since the opening of Los Angeles' ninth dog park in the Northeast community of Hermon, the city-supplied "pooper scoopers" have been too few and were often stolen from this off-leash dog exercise area that runs alongside the eastern bank of the lower Arroyo Seco.
On Saturday, July 29, representatives of the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council (ASNC) and the Arroyo Seco Foundation (ASF)joined Los Angeles City Councilmember José Huizar in a "first" for communities along the Arroyo, by "inaugurating" the use of neighborhood council-funded permanent dispensers filled with pet waste bags installed at critical locations in and near the now year-old dog park in Hermon.
At the request of Jeff Chapman, Watershed Coordinator for the Arroyo Seco Foundation, the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council purchased the dispensers and supplies of the refillable bags.
The Arroyo Seco stream is listed in the Clean Water Act as an impaired waterbody, explained Chapman, and at least part of the impairment is due to bacteria from pet waste.
"Hermon Dog Park is a perfect location to provide an opportunity for dog owners to 'do the right thing' regarding water quality," said Chapman.
After the ASNC overwhelmingly voted to approve the purchase, dispensers filled with biodegradable litter bags were placed at four strategic locations, -- one in each of the dog park's exercise areas (for large and small/shy dogs), one next to the main entrance from the park into the arroyo streambed, and one in a portion of the larger Hermon Park alongside the Historic Arroyo Seco Parkway (110 Freeway) where dog owners also take their dogs.
The installation of the dispensers in the park area was coordinated by the "Friends of Hermon Dog Park," -- a non-profit support group for the dog park - which arranged with the City's Department of Recreation and Parks to install them permanently in concrete. Each dispenser rests under a sign encouraging park and Arroyo visitors to care for the local environment and pick up after their dogs, thereby improving water quality. As a result, Hermon became the first local Arroyo community to take such proactive steps along the waterway. Nearby Pasadena is now planning similar installations.
Directions to Hermon Dog Park: located off Via Marisol, just east of the Arroyo Seco Parkway (110 Freeway). Enter the park entrance and drive to the end of the parking area, walk under the Avenue 60 overpass, and you're there!
