SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The debate over whether dogs should be allowed in Jackson Park in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood is reaching its peak.

“It’s a beautiful field. We see it’s not being used, so we bring our dogs here when there are no kids or events,” said Shevy Karvasi, who was walking his dog in the park Thursday evening.

San Francisco Recreation and Parks has put up additional signs to make it clear that dogs are not allowed on the sports fields in Jackson Park, but for some dog owners the temptation is just too great.

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“I just don’t see any harm in it,” said Matthew Chen, who was at the park with his dog.

But users of the park’s sports fields say the puppies are a problem.

“When we walk in the fields, sometimes we step in poop,” said Eduardo Sanchez, who plays softball in the park. “People don’t clean up the dogs’ poop and sometimes it creates a strange situation where we have to clean it up ourselves.”

“The only problem we sometimes come across is that they leave dog poop lying around and the owners don’t clean it up,” added teammate Stephan Kyle.

The city encourages dog owners to go to nearby dog ​​parks, but people say it’s too inconvenient.

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“It’s a hassle to have to walk or drive 10, 20, 30 minutes down the street. That’s an expense and we should have access to our park,” said Paul Sears, who has collected nearly a thousand signatures to get the city to create a space for dogs. He called the current policy outdated.

“When it was written, this neighborhood was very different, there were a lot of warehouses,” Sears said. “Now you have all these apartment buildings that are dog-friendly, with hundreds and hundreds of dog owners here.”

According to Recreation and Parks, there are plans to create a dog park in the coming years, but in the meantime the debate continues.

“The solution is for people to follow the rules. They can see the signs there that dogs are not allowed here, but they continue anyway,” Sanchez said.