Dog poop isn't allowed in Sudbury roadside litter containers

CTV News

07-06-2025

City officials are reminding the public that they don't want to see dog waste left in litter bins around Greater Sudbury.
The city of Greater Sudbury has approximately 230 roadside litter containers across the municipality and staff want to remind residents dog waste is not allowed in them.
Nataly Whissell, Manager of Collection and Recycling says its not uncommon for the city to do a mail blitz to send out reminders of where the waste should go instead.
'They should be bringing it home. A couple of options there. Mixing it with your regular garbage. So we do have a maximum amount of 10% volume in your garbage can, residents can also participate in a dog waste digester support program. They can flush their the dog feces in the toilet. They can consider hiring a company to remove the pet waste. And, of course, there's always the option to deliver the extra pet waste directly to a landfill site,' she said.
Whissell tells CTVNews there are several reasons why people are not allowed to dispose of pet waste in the containers.
'Often, times when there's too much dog waste in a bin, it'll cause it to be overloaded, it becomes overweight and then we can't collect from it. So we have to send extra resources out to collect. It also makes roadside litter containers pretty dirty and smelly for anybody in the surrounding area and certainly increases the likelihood that the waste collector and surrounding properties and surrounding vehicles could be sprayed with the disease causing bacteria found in dog poop,' she said.
Michel Babin walks his dog along Bancroft Drive sometimes up to three times a day. Often finding dog poop bags and trash on the side of the road.
'I've been putting it into the garbage bins with the last one. It says waste…I didn't even know. I had no clue," he said.
Hope McKinlay has a 3-year-old dog and says it doesn't make sense.
'There's a garbage bin for garbage. You want me to put my Gatorade bottles, my food waste, stuff like that but I can't put actual waste like 100% not if it's human. Maybe not, but dog waste is kind of the one thing that the reason is the garbage. So it's not just strewn along the trails where people walk, where they hike. I wouldn't want to step in that. I'd rather it be in the garbage,' she said.
For more information on pet waste visit https://www.greatersudbury.ca/live/animal-services-and-wildlife/animal-care-and-control-by-law/pet-waste/