Fishtown residents frustrated with nasty trend of dog waste left on sidewalks near cemetery: 'Pick it up!'

FISHTOWN - Over the years Fishtown has been changing.

"It’s been renovated, a lot more people have moved into it," says Mike Kokayko, a Fishtown Resident. Kokayko has been living in the area since 1996, right near the historic Palmer Cemetery, which has grown to be an area with much two and four-legged traffic.

That’s part of the reason there’s been an uptick of trash and even dog waste left behind near the cemetery.

After FOX 29 asked Kokayko was it frustrating he said, "A little bit, to a certain extent. People don’t have backyards. They can’t let their dogs out on their properties but they do have to walk them, and this is kind of a good spot to walk them. I do think the majority of the people do pick up though."

Kokayko says he definitely does for his dogs Perry and Milo.

The owners who haven’t, have been put on notice on the "Fishtown Is AWESOME OLD/NEW/EVERYONE!" Facebook Page. One user posted, "We have very few things that are dear to us in the old neighborhood. One is Palmer Cemetery. We have volunteers who spend a lot of time keeping the cemetery nice. Some people think it's ok to let their dog go on the pavement without having to clean it up."

Comments poured in quickly, with one user saying, "Thanks, this needed to be said. Sometimes I can’t even walk my dog on the side of the cemetery because we are dodging *expletive* left and right."

Lina Rush, a lifetime Fishtown resident says, "There’s times where I come here and I literally have to pick somebody else’s poop up because it’s too much poop."

FOX 29 spoke with a cemetery volunteer off camera who says they have to pick up a lot of waste and trash along the perimeter of the cemetery. They’ve even had people throw their waste-filled bags through the gate into the cemetery.

Thursday the cemetery was cleared of dog waste and the reason is that the cemetery volunteers just recently finished clearing up the area.

With that being said, FOX29 was still able to find trash and even dog waste near the cemetery gate.

A site that is frustrating for Lina Rush, not just because she is a dog owner. "Yeah it hits personal to me. This is where I’m from, born and raised in Fishtown. My brother is buried here so, this is home to me."

She had one message for those disrespecting it, "I’m going to look directly at you. To all dog owners - this is not hard. Pick your poop up."