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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Something stinks to high-heaven on Range Lake.

Someone disposed of a significant amount of animal feces in the middle of Range Lake this week and the City of Yellowknife has no plans to clean it up.

A significant amount of animal waste, dog feces and urine was dumped in the middle of frozen Range Lake recently. City officials want people to know that disposing of animal waste is to be done at Fiddler's Lagoon on Highway 3. - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL photo

Grant White, the city's director of Community Services, said they would send people over to the lake, but said lake cleanup isn't something they do.

"The lakes are one of the grey areas with jurisdiction in the city," he said. "Had we seen them drop it off there, we could have issued a litter fine. Typically we look after parks and green spaces, trails and that sort of thing and the lakes don't fit into any of those."

The pile of excrement is spread over a five foot radius just off the Rivett Crescent entrance to the lake. The pile contains frozen pieces of dog feces and chunks of frozen dog urine.

Doug Gillard, manager of Municipal Enforcement, said they hadn't received any complaints regarding the feces but said they would check into it. He also said unless they had a witness to the bylaw violation they are limited to what they can do.

"If we have a way to identify who did it then we can follow up with charges of littering," he said. "But other than that we'd probably advise public works or community services to see if it's something they felt should be cleaned up for being on a water body."

Gillard said it's unusual for someone to gather up a large amount of dog and cat feces and dump it in a random area.

"This is the first I've heard of stuff being dumped on the lake," he said. "There are some people who don't clean up after they walk their dog but for someone to have cleaned up a large amount is unusual.

"It's not very common, not to say it doesn't happen."

Under section 11(3) of the City Solid Waste Management bylaw, animal feces is only to be disposed of in the area designated by the Senior Administrative Officer and not in any public place or in regular garbage disposal. Fiddler's Lagoon, located on Highway 3, is the designated area for residents to dispose of any animal waste.

Shannon Ripley, program co-ordinator with Ecology North, said it's important for residents to have the knowledge and information available for them to be able to properly deal with animal waste.

"It's just a matter of having that information available to people and important for people to know that's what they need to do to dispose of it," she said.

"It comes down to the individual responsibility as citizens to deal with our waste disposal."