Around Town

‘They Had a Nice Idea’: NCHS Freshmen, Girl Scouts Lead Efforts To Get Three ‘Dog Waste Stations’ in Town

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Claire Brunner and Lily Hirai, freshmen at New Canaan High School and members of Girl Scouts Troop 50230, knew that they wanted their Silver Award project to be about animals in some way. A pair of dog-lovers—Lily has a 7-year-old yellow Labrador retriever named ‘Ranger’ and Claire wants a dog—they sought “to make the community more animal-friendly,” Claire recalled. “When I was out walking the neighbor’s dog, I saw one of these [dog waste station] units, and I thought it would be good for the environment to have one in town, where dog owners can discard of their animals’ waste, so I put it out to Lily and we both agreed that it was a good project.”

Soon, thanks to the 14-year-olds’ efforts, New Canaan will benefit from three stations set up in places where people often can be found walking leashed dogs: at South and Farm Roads, at South and Maple, and in front of the Playhouse at New Canaan’s “50-yard-line.”

Made possible by a series of fundraising efforts that the two Girl Scouts oversaw (their troop is overseen by Carolyn Prazenka and Jennifer O’Brien), the projects will mark the first time that New Canaan installs the stations outside of its parks, according to Tiger Mann, assistant director of the Department of Public Works. “I have to say, they had a nice idea,” Mann said. The town will resupply the bags at the stations, which essentially are a green box affixed to a post, he said.