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Bend is a recreational
mecca as well as a boom town. Our
population is increasing at a phenomenal
rate and, with that, so is our dog
population. The purpose of the survey is
to inform dog owners of the conflicts and
issues now facing dog owners in the area,
provide education on responsible dog
stewardship, to gauge peoples knowledge on
issues and provide useful information to
Softpaws, the regulating partnership and
other dog concerned folks that would be
interested in this kind of
information.
Here's the idea. "Carry
a Bag, Get a Bone" De-Poop-Da-Park Dog
Waste Clean Up Campaign". Softpaws'
volunteers will routinely visit the parks
around town, as well as dog-related events
and ask the dog owners if they have heard
of the Clean Up Campaign in town. We will
then ask if they have a bag to pick up
their dog waste. If they do, they get Bone
Bucks from our sponsors including
Ruffwear, Biscuits of Bend, Pet Express,
and Dancin' Woofs Compassionate Dog
Training & Daycare, to purchase their
products. If they get caught in the act of
picking up their waste, they get double
the "Bucks". If they don't have a bag, we
offer them one. If they would also like to
fill out the 5-7 minute survey, their name
will be put in a raffle for even more
products provided by our
sponsors. The goal of the survey
is to create a database with at least 1000
responses that will be distributed by
volunteers in parks around town, at the
annual Pole, Paw Piddle skijoring race at
Mt. Bachelor, the annual World of Animals
Education Fair in Redmond, Oregon and the
Earth Day Fair downtown Bend, the summer
Central Oregon's Human Society's
newsletter, and special Friday evening
events at the parks. Campaign Launch and Advertising
We launched the campaign and survey on April 14 at Drake Park. The cool, cloudy weather didn't dampen the enthusiam as Softpaws vollenteers got the word out through collecting surveys and raffling off dog items donated by some of the sponsors. Above, Mare Shey, Softpaws Cooridinator, talks with Z21 Reporter, Lee Anderson, at the launch (Photo by Mark R. Johnson.)
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