Ansonia Considers Banning Dogs From Riverwalk

As construction continues, Ansonia is debating about who should be allowed on its new riverwalk.

The walkway is set to open in September and would connect to the already established greenway in Derby. However, while Derby allows four-legged friends to pound the pavement with their owners, Ansonia is thinking of banning all animals from its riverwalk.

"They should consider closing it for dogs because there's always a lot of mess and you're trying to walk and it's kind of annoying," Jackie Sanz, of Ansonia, said.

Derby has run into problems with people not cleaning up after their pets, so Ansonia might ban the pets.

"It's a shame to ban the dogs because of a few people," said Sandy Lee, who was visiting from West Hartford.

Many people say pets are like part of the family, and they should be allowed to take walks like everyone else.

"It would be sad because we can't walk our dog to get his exercise," Tatyana Gilchrist, of Naugatuck, said as she was walking her dog, Oreo.

"I'm against that. I definitely think that people should have the right to have their pets with them, but I also think it's their responsibility that, you know, to take care of the mess their animal makes. They have to pick up after their pet," said Marty Dempsey of Ansonia.

People say that's easy for dog owners to do.

"They have it very easy with the bags, the little plastic bags to pick up you know after the dogs," said Francis Sanchez of Ansonia.

The animal ban is not a done deal yet. The police department has been asked to weigh in on what it thinks of the ban before any final decision is made.

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