I wanted to offer some advice about outdoor places at museums.  I live in
area that is marginally dog friendly.  There are leash laws and ordinances.
At nearly all the public parks there are discreet but hard to miss (if that
makes sense) signs that ask people to pick up after their pets.  Many of
these sign posts also have baggie dispensers on them and there are usually
dispensers near the trash cans as well.

At our museum we have a rather nice walking trail around our historical
buildings that is open to the public at any time (the buildings are locked
during non business hours, but the grounds aren't fenced or anything so
people can get in at anytime).  As far as I know we don't have problems with
dog "leavings;" although wild animal "leavings" might be a different matter
altogether.  We have a few trash cans available  near picnic tables that are
on our grounds at all times and we VERY rarely have problems with litter or
anything else being left behind.

So if you have grounds that the public can access at anytime perhaps you may
need to consider signs gently reminding people to pick up after themselves
and their pets and make sure to provide them with trash cans to do so.


On an aside, I really don't want to do the whole dog vs. kid thing, but I
have to say that I think a lot of the behavior is dependent on the parties
who are suppose to be responsible.  Pet owners and parents alike are the
ones who teach their respective charges the correct behavior in situations.

I also want to share that recently a mother with a toddler who was working
on potty training had an accident.  I walked in on the mother in the ladies
room trying to clean up her toddler.  I felt bad for her, because she was
obviously embarrassed.  And told her I was on staff and to let me know if
there was anything I could do or if she need anything.  The poor kid was
saying "home, bath" at which point the mom had to say "No, son we're 2
states away from home; you can't get a bath right now."  The mother asked me
for directions to the nearest Wal-Mart so she could get some new clothes and
I gave them to her.  However, she DID NOT tell me that there was a little
pile of feces on our EXHIBIT HALL FLOOR!!!!!!!!!!  I won't go into the
trauma that the staff person who found it suffered.

Just some food for thought,
Heather Marie Wells

_________________________________________________________________
Overwhelmed by debt? Find out how to ‘Dig Yourself Out of Debt’ from MSN
Money. http://special.msn.com/money/0407debt.armx

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).