Jasper has a disposal problem.

Late last week, bylaw officers notified a property owner that an expansive pile of residential waste would have to be removed from where it was sitting beside a town dumpster in the alley between Patricia and Geikie Streets. And Monday afternoon, a Jasper high school student discovered three kittens abandoned in the dog park.

“I found them in the dog park across from Centennial Park today around 2:30 p.m. as I was walking back to school,” said Dayna Melanson. “I saw one running which led me to the other two in a bush, curled up and freezing. I called my mom and asked if we could take them home and find them a home.”

Melanson and her mother brought the abandoned pets to the Jasper Veterinary Clinic to get the animals checked over. The smallest kitten weighed in at a mere 1.6 pounds while the two larger ones were both under two pounds. It was very fortunate that the cats were found before an unsuspecting dog owner let an animal off-leash in the park, said clinic employee Karen Dyck.

“We all know that if dogs had found these kittens, they wouldn’t be alive right now.”

It’s hardly the first time that kittens have been abandoned for the vet clinic to take care of.

“I’ve had them left on my doorstep, at the United Church, we’ve even picked kittens up along the highway,” Dyck said.

These three animals were six to seven weeks old, so their previous owners had been in possession of the kittens for some time. Dyck hopes that with a bit of publicity someone might be able to help authorities indentify who is responsible for leaving the kittens in the park.

“Someone out there knows that someone’s cat had kittens recently,” she said. One kitten has been adopted, but the other two were still in need of loving homes as the Fitzhugh went to press.

Dyck has a message for any pet owners who might be overwhelmed by an unexpected litter of kittens or puppies. There is plenty of assistance available here in Jasper.

“We’re always here to offer information and help,” she said. People can also contact the town’s bylaw enforcement staff in such cases, Dyck added.

While the gratuitous dumping of furniture and property is nowhere near as shocking, it is still a practice that is a problem in Jasper. Now, bylaw officers are able to charge landlords for the removal of residential waste beside dumpsters on their property. Previously, the municipal employees had to determine who had left the trash and failing that, the town would have to pay for getting rid of the eyesores.

“It has been an ongoing problem in the community,” said municipal constable Doug Rodwell. The new practice will see bylaw officers serve the landlord in question with a notice, and then provide that person or business a certain amount of time to clear the mess. 

Should the landlord in question not respond to the notice in the time allotted, the municipality will take the trash to the dump and charge the landlord for doing so. In addition to this, the landlord will be taken to court for violating the dumping bylaw.

On Thursday, Rodwell served his first notice of this kind in response to a truly impressive pile of garbage (pictured) found between a recycling bin and a garbage dumpster in the 700 block of the Geikie-Patricia alley.

“It was the worst I’ve ever seen,” he said.

On this occassion, the responsible parties removed the trash by late afternoon.

Dumping residential garbage in the dump is free, so Rodwell  encourages Jasperites to take a few extra minutes and potentially save themselves, or someone else, a fair bit of money and inconvenience.

Anyone wishing to make a complaint about residential trash can contact the bylaw enforcement office at 852-5514. This is also the number to call if you have any information about the three abandoned kittens found in the dog park.