To the Editor:

I would like to thank the Town of Newtown for the beautiful walking/jogging paths made available at Fairfield Hills campus. It offers something for everyone. My husband and I immensely enjoy these paths and make good use of them daily. Which brings me to the reason for my letter.

This past weekend and Monday morning (August 8-10) there were a number of dog poop “landmines” on the paths. Now mind you, these were not of to the side of the paths but directly in the way of people walking/jogging. We enjoy taking our dogs there and we realize they may have to poop along the way, this is natural but we clean it up. Most dog owners also clean up. There are courtesy poop bags made available by the town and receptacles to place the used bags in. As I spoke to people who were walking, several people mentioned they saw a young woman jogging with her black lab; the dog pooped and she continued to jog in spite of mess her dog left.

Please, be responsible and clean up after your dog; no one is responsible for removing the poop but you. The town has provided the essentials to help with this, but it is not their job to clean up the poop “landmines.” I would hate to see the privilege of dog walking at Fairfield Hills be taken away due to the careless and irresponsible actions of a few. If your dog does need a place to run, the town has provided a beautiful dog park near to the Fairfield Hills Campus.

Sincerely,

Lisa Cook-Dietter

7 Orchard Hill Road, Newtown                    August 11, 2015