Dog walkers in the wealthy suburb of Remuera are dumping bags of dog faeces at the spot where Auckland Council has removed a rubbish bin as part of a cost-cutting measure.  

One woman walking her 3-year-old spoodle called Milo yesterday morning was shocked to find a pile of about a dozen or more plastic bags of poo at the entrance of a pathway leading down to the Ōrākei Basin off Upland Rd. 

“Dog owners, either in optimistic expectation that the bin will be replaced or in protest at its removal, are continuing to deposit their dog’s doings in bags in the spot where the bin once stood,” said the woman, who did not want to be named. 

She said Ōrākei Basin, particularly the lawn area on the southern side, is very popular with dog walkers because it is an off-leash area. 

Orakei Basin is a popular dog walking area. Photo / Natalie Slade 

The pile of poo bags where Auckland Council has removed a rubbish bin at a popular dog-walking area in Remuera. 

The pile of poo bags is alongside a council sign, designating it an off-leash dog exercise area. 

Martin Wong, the council’s area operations manager for Waitematā and Ōrākei, confirmed the bin at the entrance to Ōrākei Basin had been removed, saying there is a bin not far away in the carpark area for dog walkers and visitors to use. 

He said it is irresponsible to dump dog waste in other people’s bins, yards or “our environment”. 

“If a bin didn’t exist in a place before, then most people would take their waste away with them. The reduction in rubbish bins shouldn’t result in any different behaviour,” Wong said. 

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He said most dog owners are responsible and dispose of dog waste by walking to the nearest bin or taking it home to dispose of. 

“We have noticed that some dog walkers have deposited their dog waste where rubbish bins have been removed. We have also noticed other park users calling out this behaviour which has seen this behaviour slow down,” he said. 

Since November last year, the council has been binning bins with low historical use. The number had reduced from 10,000 to 7000 by the end of March, as part of a cost-cutting drive in this year’s budget to save $1.4 million a year. 

Last month, the Herald reported Aucklanders turning to social media en masse to complain about the sudden removal of public rubbish bins across the city. 

Dog owners have been left clutching putrid sacks of faeces and morning walkers have been shocked to find bins on popular tracks across the city suddenly replaced by bare dirt. 

A site on the Devonport waterfront where a council rubbish bin has been removed. 

People shared concerns over dog droppings in the genteel harbourside suburb of Devonport. 

“Where have all the rubbish bins gone?” one irate local asked online. 

“Do we now just throw our dog s*** and fish and chip wrappers into the sea?” 

The woman who contacted the Herald about the Ōrākei pile of bags said she took her dog’s effort home in the car. 

“I am finding that the recyclable doggy doo bags sold in supermarkets may be waterproof but are not smell-proof as I found, to my shame, when I put it inside another non-recyclable bag. 

“I blame the removal of the bin for straying from the path of environmental consciousness,” she said. 

Bernard Orsman is an Auckland-based reporter who has been covering local government and transport since 1998. He joined the Herald in 1990 and worked in the parliamentary press gallery for six years.  

This article was originally posted on the NZ Herald here.