It was a dirty job, but somebody had to do it.
For the last 20 years, Dog Beach Dog Wash has provided pet pickup bags gratis in stainless-steel containers at Dog Beach and Ocean Beach Park, as well as at Dusty Rhodes Dog Park.
But no longer. At the end of September, Dog Beach Dog Wash announced it has gotten out of the pet-bag business.
“In order to ensure a clean beach and ocean at our treasured Dog Beach and adjacent park, we have provided 32-34 rolls of 2,000 bags/roll a month ($ .014 each), amounting to more than $10,000 a year at Dog Beach, or more than $200,000 over 20 years,” said Dog Beach Dog Wash in a recent flyer. “For more than 10 years, until last year, we also provided four rolls a month at Dusty Rhodes Dog Park. We have relied on help from volunteers and our Dog Wash staff to keep the 12-plus containers full at all times. We will no longer be able to afford to provide bags for the 10,000 visitors a week to Dog Beach, who rely on these bags to pick up after their pets.”
Dog poop bag resupply was so intense, said Jane Donley, co-owner of Dog Beach Dog Wash that, “We had to order 100 rolls, 2,000 on a roll, three times a year four months in advance.” Donley added that stainless-steel bag dispensers they put up were a bit worn but added, “They held up for 20 years. The whole point of this was to keep the beach, the ocean and the river clean.”
To pick up the slack, Donley said City Park and Recreation staff has installed three Dogipot dispensers (which hold 200 bags each, at a cost of more than $.04 each), two in Ocean Beach Park and one at Dog Beach. But there is a catch.
“The City can get 400 bags per container, whereas we got 2,000,” pointed out Donley.
Dog Beach Dog Wash will continue to conduct monthly cleanups at Dog Beach every 2nd Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m., and participate at Dog Beach with I Love A Clean San Diego’s Creek to Bay Cleanup in April, with the San Diego River Park Foundation’s River Days in May, and with I Love A Clean San Diego’s California Coastal Cleanup in September. “It has been our privilege to contribute to the health and safety of humans, dogs and all marine life at Dog Beach for the past 20 years,” said Dog Beach Dog Wash. “Since 1998, we are proud to have helped achieve and maintain The Bay’s A rating for Dog Beach.”