Rocklin Considers Mandating Pet Owners Pick Up Waste
ROCKLIN (CBS 13) — Taking care of your pet's business may soon be law in Rocklin.
Rocklin city leaders drafted an ordinance that requires pet owners to immediately clean up their animal's waste or potentially face a several hundred dollar fine.
A spokesperson for the city of Rocklin said a lot more people have been showing up to city council meetings to complain and that's when council members realized they didn't have any sort of ordinance that made it mandatory for pet owners to break out the bags and pick it up.
"I think it's sad that you have to have an ordinance it just should be common courtesy to pick up after your dog," said Marci Rayl.
The ordinance would make it illegal to not pick up pet waste on public property or private property you don't own. Police would just give out warnings at first but people could face fines starting at $100 and up to $500 for repeat offenses.
"I pick mine up, you know. But when I see other people do it I'm not going out of my way to go stop them but I'm definitely thinking 'I'm looking down on you for sure,'" said Ryan Johnson, a Rocklin dog owner.
City leaders said in a statement, "We hope this can serve as a reminder for people to show courtesy to others and take responbility for their pets."
The cities surrounding Rocklin have already had an ordinance like this in place for years, including in Roseville and Sacramento.
Rocklin city leaders also want to make it illegal for private property owners to allow animal waste to accumulate excessively on their property.
"Well, who's going to police that? Is there going to be a dog poop police," Rayl said.
Rocklin city leaders might adopt this new ordinance at their next meeting on July 27. If they do, the law would take effect 30 days after that.