WEST LOOP — After years of dog-related issues in Mary Bartelme Park, city Animal Care and Control workers now are ticketing pet owners who refuse to follow the park's rules.
Animal control officers already were patrolling the West Loop park this week, Bartelme Park Advisory Council officials announced at a community meeting Tuesday night at Merit School of Music. The move came after the advisory council worked for years to educate dog owners about the park's rules, including installing new yard signs in May that were unceremoniously removed.
Asking the city to ticket in the park is a last resort after five years of problems, advisory council president Scott Maesel said.
"It is now ticket-writing time," Maesel said.
Even though the park has a designated dog area, dog owners increasingly have bucked Bartelme Park's rules on pet poop and allowed their dogs to roam off leash, Maesel said. The dog problems have yielded an "overwhelming" number of complaints from people who use the park.
Stephanie Lulay says dog-poop DNA testing might be next:
Chicago Animal Control Officer John Allison patrols Mary Bartelme Park in the West Loop Tuesday. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
The advisory council requested more signs, added a designated dog-friendly board member and tried to inform dog owners of the rules through word of mouth, but the problems persisted.
As he patrolled the park Tuesday night, Animal Care and Control Officer John Allison said he already had warned two dog owners who allowed their dogs to roam off leash in the busy park. Next time, he will ticket the owners, he said.
"We will be back," Allison said.
Too much dog poop can cause health issues in the park for humans and other dogs, he said.
Under city ordinance, owners who fail to clean up their pets' poop face a ticket of $50 to $500 for each offense, unless the dog owner is legally blind.
Pet owners are required to restrain their dogs with a leash when the dog is off the owner's property. Owners who defy the city rule are subject to a $300 fine. But if the violation results in the serious injury or death of another person, the owner could face fines up to $10,000 and up to six months in jail.
What are the park's rules?
Facing a crowd of dog owners Tuesday night, advisory council treasurer Armando Chacon said the park is "dog-friendly."
While the advisory council has asked dog owners to keep their dogs from urinating or pooping on the park's grassy areas, and Chicago Park District signs reading "dogs allowed in dog area only" line the park, Maesel admitted Tuesday night that dog owners can't be fined for allowing their dogs to use the bathroom on the park's grass.
Dog owners can only be ticketed if they let their dogs roam off leash or fail to clean up their dog's poop, Park District officials confirmed.
In January, in an effort to tackle the park's poop problem, Ald. Danny Solis (25th) suggested installing cameras to catch owners who failed to clean up after their dogs.
On Tuesday night, Solis said dog-related issues aren't exclusive to the West Loop. The alderman wants to explore other options, including the possibility of having DNA registration worked into the city's existing pet registration process. If a dog's DNA was registered with the city, dog feces could be tested and irresponsible owners could be identified, he said.
In May, signs were installed in Bartelme Park warning dog owners about the park's dog poop rules. Less than a day after the new signs were installed, someone removed the signs overnight, tossing them in the trash.
After the signs were trashed, some dog owners argued that the park's rules banning dogs from urinating and defecating on grassy areas were too strict.
Dogs play in a designated dog area at Mary Bartelme Park in the West Loop in May.[DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
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