cassiesmom
06-21-2007, 06:09 PM
This is from today's on line Chicago Tribune. I think $45,000 is totally worth it if it keeps even one beachgoer from a lengthy hospital stay due to an E. coli infection.
Gull-chasing dogs getting more work
By Alexa Aguilar
Tribune staff reporter
June 21, 2007, 3:36 PM CDT
A team of border collies was so successful at scaring pesky ring-billed gulls from a local lakefront beach last year that the Chicago Park District will give the dogs even more work this summer, officials said today.
The droppings of the ring-billed gulls are a major reason for the E. coli counts that force beach closures throughout the summer.
Last year, border collies worked for four weeks chasing gulls at Foster Avenue Beach. Park District officials counted a 30-percent decrease in the number of gulls swooping around the lakefront there, so they decided to broaden the program.
From Memorial Day to Labor Day, border collies will spend several hours a day chasing gulls at the Foster Avenue and 63rd Street Beaches — two beaches most often plagued by high E. coli counts.
The program will cost the Park District about $45,000.
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Gull-chasing dogs getting more work
By Alexa Aguilar
Tribune staff reporter
June 21, 2007, 3:36 PM CDT
A team of border collies was so successful at scaring pesky ring-billed gulls from a local lakefront beach last year that the Chicago Park District will give the dogs even more work this summer, officials said today.
The droppings of the ring-billed gulls are a major reason for the E. coli counts that force beach closures throughout the summer.
Last year, border collies worked for four weeks chasing gulls at Foster Avenue Beach. Park District officials counted a 30-percent decrease in the number of gulls swooping around the lakefront there, so they decided to broaden the program.
From Memorial Day to Labor Day, border collies will spend several hours a day chasing gulls at the Foster Avenue and 63rd Street Beaches — two beaches most often plagued by high E. coli counts.
The program will cost the Park District about $45,000.
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune