Pooch-lovers who routinely visit the Dyker Beach Dog Run say the city isn’t maintaining the leash-free lot, leaving the task of emptying overflowing, poop-filled trash bins to a bunch of neighborhood doo doo-gooders.
Jerry Huyler, who has been bringing his dogs to Dyker Beach Park for 16 years, says he carts dozens of feces-filled bags out of the park more than twice a week — and uses his own handtruck to bring the foul-smelling plastic sacks to the dog run’s 10th Avenue entrance for pickup.
“I saw full bags both in the cans and outside of the cans in the dog run, so I began taking them to the curb,” said Huyler, adding that it often takes the Parks Department two to three weeks to take away the pile of trash bags left by the curb.
Anna Likhten, who visits the run almost every day, said the long waits between city trash pick-ups result in horrendous odors.
“It’s a god-awful stench that never goes away, because the trash never gets picked up,” said Likhten.
Dog run users are responsible for picking up after their pooches and putting their pet’s droppings in garbage cans that line the dog run, but the city is supposed to empty the bins and take the garbage bags away.
A Parks Department spokeswoman said the trash bags are removed regularly, yet dog owners say that’s untrue.
“I have never, ever, ever, seen a Parks Department person in the dog run,” said Likhten.
Rose Esposito, a dog owner who’s been bringing pups to the run for most of her life, said she didn’t realize the city was supposed to take out the trash.
“We’ve always accepted things the way they are,” Esposito said. “That’s why we do it ourselves,” Esposito said.
Reach reporter Will Bredderman at (718) 260–4507 or e-mail him at wbredderman@cnglocal.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/WillBredderman
