When Carolyn Gibson visits her loved ones at Lakeview Cemetery, the last thing she wants to see is a dog around the gravesites.
‘It just makes you angry when you go in there and you see some dog lifting their leg or stooping and going to the bathroom on a grave,? said Gibson, a Springfield Township resident.
‘This isn’t a dog park. These people who bury their loved ones in here, buy the piece of property that they’re buried in and it’s not like all these people from the township who have used it for a dog park have paid for them.?
‘No pets allowed? signs used to be posted in the cemetery, but new signs don’t say that, she said.
Linda Richardson, Independence Township Department of Public Works director and head of Lakeview Cemetery, said there is no law prohibiting dogs in the cemetery.
‘The restriction is that they must be on a leash in the cemetery rules and regulations,? said Richardson. ‘What we’re going to do is, we’re going to provide doggy bags and put some signs up, ‘be a responsible pet owner, pick up your dog’s mess.??
The township is looking for a company from which they can get the signs at a low price. The signs and doggy bags will be placed at the front entrance of the cemetery, she said.
Independence Township ordinances state pets must be leashed in public and it is the owner’s responsibility to ‘immediately remove all droppings deposited by such dog or cat by any sanitary method.?
‘I think if you own a pet that, that’s one of the responsibilities that you have, to go along with pet ownership,? said Shelagh VanderVeen, Independence Township clerk. ‘You have to make sure you clean up after your dog.?