Scoop de Doo City-wide Dog Park Clean-up Day a Huge Success
On May 4th, Dog lovers spread out to neighborhood parks and recreation areas throughout San Francisco and picked up what was left behind.
Dog owners and guardians Scooped de Doo across San Francisco during a dog park clean-up day, May 4th. SFDOG sponsored the event at city parks and recreation areas all over San Francisco. More than 200 people armed with gloves, rakes, and shovels participated at their favorite dog play areas for a group-led park maintenance effort. “We feel that it’s our doo-ty to be good neighbors and stewards of our dog-friendly parks and recreation areas,” said Sally Stephens, president of SFDOG. SFDOG distributed over 200 goody bags to the volunteers who came out to help.
Collaborating with leaders of neighborhood dog packs from over 15 parks, SFDOG’s good-will service event (designed to exhibit love and care for our neighborhood dog play areas as well as build dog-community) was a huge success. At popular Fort Funston, the volunteers beat back foxtails and gathered more than 25 bags full of the dangerous, ubiquitous weed. At McLaren Park, the second largest park in the city, park captain Ren Volpe said “We had about 25 people and 30 dogs show up and picked up a sh*t ton of garbage.” At Lafayette Park, captain Steffan Franz said “We had about 30 people, and we did a ton of work around the dog play area. [We focused] on weeding around the run, fixing the mesh around the perimeter fencing and even hosed down the whole area.” Cynthia Chapman, captain at Alamo Square, said “I think it was an amazing day. Lots of interest, great community spirit, and productive! We filled a lot of holes and bare spots in the dog play area.” Anita Denz at Alta Plaza and Jean Kind at Stern Grove both said “the goody bags were much appreciated!”
Overall, it was a great day. Thanks to all who came out to help and supported Scoop de Doo!
SFDOG, the San Francisco Dog Owners Group, sponsored the event with support from numerous neighborhood dog groups (see the list below) as well as Recology, which hauled the excess trash, and The Animal House pet store, which donated products for goodie bags and owner Megan Johnson who participated in the clean up efforts at Alamo Square. SFDOG is a nonprofit organization that promotes responsible dog guardianship, offers educational programs for both dog owners and the general public, and works for increased on- and-off-leash recreation opportunities for responsible humans and their canine companions.
List of participating parks and supporting groups
Alamo Square Park (Alamo Square Bark)
Crissy Field (Crissy Field Dog Group)
Dolores Park (Dolores Park Dogs)
Eureka Valley Dog Park (SFDOG)
Fort Funston (SFDOG, Ft Funston Dog Walkers)
Golden Gate Park Dog Training Area (DogPAC of San Francisco)
Lafayette Park (Friends of Lafayette Park)
McLaren Dog Park (McLaren Park Dog Lovers)
Ocean Beach (SFDOG)
Palace of Fine Arts Park (SFDOG)
Rincon Hill Dog Park (Rincon Hill Dog Park)
Stern Grove (Stern Grove Dog Owners Group)
Upper Noe Dog Park (Friends of Upper Noe Dog Owners Group - FUNDOG)
West Portal Dog Play Area (West Portal Neighborhood Association)