A few weeks ago I rode my bike on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail in Salt Lake City for the first time. What a majestic and beautiful trail it is. What a wonderful asset for Salt Lake City.
Unfortunately, I had one, overriding bad experience: the constant encounter with dogs that were off leash. During my 3-hour ride I encountered nearly forty dogs and their owners. Despite leash laws, not a single dog was on a leash. The free-roaming dogs were often a hazard to other hikers, bikers and runners.
But there was something worse than off-leash dogs. There was dog poop everywhere. Some was bagged and left on the side of the trail. I commented to my companion that perhaps these dog owners were planning on picking up their bags when returning down the trail. He replied that sadly he sees the same bags each week. In the early afternoon we rode back to the trailhead, the afternoon sun had warmed the ground, the air and the dog poop. The smell was very unpleasant.
Something needs to be done to stop the desecration of our beautiful Bonneville Shoreline Trail. With so many people using it, it needs to be protected. Dogs need to be kept on leashes, and owners need to be responsible for their pet’s waste.
Mark Randall
Sandy