Residents fed up with hazardous conditions at McCarren Park dog run after outbreaks of leptospirosis, giardia
NEW YORK -- There's more trouble at a dog run in Brooklyn that residents are branding the worst one in all of New York City.
Dilapidated conditions and poor drainage at McCarren Park has gotten the blame for a pair of outbreaks.
CBS2's Dave Carlin talked to dog owners and city officials about what is being done to fix up the park.
"Temporarily closed" signs reappear at Brooklyn's troubled McCarren Park located on the border of Williamsburg and Greenpoint, after a second round of sick dogs.
In January, dogs became ill with leptospirosis, which is caused by a bacteria that lives in water and warm wet soil. A bulldog named Oreo died, along with others.
"Unfortunately, up to four dogs that we know of died of leptospirosis that was also stemming from this dog run," said Danielle Dorchester, advocacy director at McCarren Dog Run Alliance.
Dorchester says there is now an apparent outbreak of giardia, caused by a single cell parasite and resulting in severe stomach problems for dogs. It's rarely fatal, however.
"It can cause extremely high vet bills, and cause a major issue," Dorchester said.
Greenpoint resident Gina Scafide's dog Olive was stricken.
"They tested for giardia like they always do and it came back positive," Scafide said. "But it is still really scary that she got it from the dog park, and now there's more dogs that are getting sick."
Scafide says something needs to be done.
"A lot of dogs go there. It's just disgusting. The wood chips are gross. It's not taken care of as well as the community wants it to be," Scafide said.
"It's not hygienic, and a lot of other state of the art dog runs have turf that is easier to sanitize. And that just hasn't been implemented here," Dorchester said.
Elsewhere, green K9 Turf is working out well. At Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, neighbors accomplished it by raising tens of thousands of dollars through donations.
"This is great because it drains easily and it's not - your dogs are not filthy when you get home," said dog owner Darien Manel.
It's unlikely McCarren Park will get the green turf, mainly because the City Council plans to close McCarren and open a new dog run for the community.
"My goal is to identify a new location for a new dog run in our community," said Councilmember Lincoln Restler. "We've narrowed down to a couple spots. We're working on pulling all the resources together. My goal is to get it addressed in this budget that we're going to pass in June."
The experts say before you bring any dog into any dog run, make sure they have social skills, some basic training that they know, so they'll come back to you and leave dangerous things alone. Try to keep dogs from drinking out of puddles or chewing on sticks, monitor them, and find the right dog run for them: The less muddy and puddle-prone, the better.