A happy dog in Centennial Park next to a bin from Brett, the Steve Irwin-lookalike of dog whisperers
The Steve Irwin-lookalike of dog whisperers has moved his business into Sydney’s Centennial Park and is doing what park management hasn’t done – putting doggie-do bins in strategically located places for easy access for owners.
Dog lovers who exercise their pampered pooches in the park have long had to negotiate around steaming piles of you know what courtesy of irresponsible dog owners and, in recent months, a chorus of complaint has arisen about the increasing mountains of bags of dog excrement dumped at lamp posts and trees trunks due to the lack of rubbish bins. Again, thanks to crappy dog owners.
Letters to the park management have fallen on deaf ears. I wrote in May complaining about the lack of bins and received a response that was nothing more than lip-service.
Bins are positioned for easy access for contractors to empty – ie, hundreds of metres away from where the dogs do their business. “We also undertake education and enforcement programs and remove dumped waste as quickly as possible, but unfortunately this has little effect on a minority of irresponsible park users who do not dispose of their waste in a proper manner,” the letter continued.
Nonsense: days go by and the bags remain.
“It is also worth noting that waste management within Centennial Parklands is a significant cost to our organisation and the dumping of dog waste in an irresponsible manner certainly contributes to this ever increasing cost which could be better spent on the management of other aspects of Centennial Parklands,” the letter stated.
So it’s a cost issue, not a health issue.
Really, she's a happy hound after a wash and blow dry from Brett's Pet Wash 2000 in Centennial Park today
Enter Brett, the self-described dog whisperer from Taren Point, who has set up a Pet Wash 2000 business in the park near the dog-run area, with the Trust’s permission. Regular dog owners have been quietly impressed in recent days as Brett went on his daily pooh patrols picking up dumped doggie-do bags.
On Friday, at his own expense, he wheeled out two bright blue bins for the convenience of dog owners and takes care of disposing the waste.
Brett has been an instant hit with pet owners, who are lining up to thank him for being so considerate to their needs and, also, to get their pooches pampered.
“We’re dog people,” he told me today, adding that he handles hundreds of dogs each week and knows how to get even the most rambunctious hound into his tub.
