Needles near daycare

UPDATE: 10 a.m.

Numerous people have contacted Castanet expressing concern after numerous needles are being found across the city as snow melts.

One reader said they found needles on the beach in front of the washrooms at City Park on Sunday.

“My son was digging around and it wasn’t far from him,” she said.

Another reader who reached out said they have seen an alarming amount of needles at parks, beaches and outside her daughter’s school in Rutland.

"The needles are showing up everywhere and the kids forget they should not pick up things they see on the ground,” they said. “It’s horrible that people are just throwing these needles away and in places such as beside schools and daycares.”

ORIGINAL: 5 a.m.

A Kelowna resident often finds children's toys thrown over the fence of a daycare centre off Lawrence Avenue. He normally tosses them back over so the children can continue to play with them.

Sunday afternoon he saw something in the very spot he would find toys that shocked him.

“I found a syringe and this shell casing from a rifle cartridge within three feet of it, just outside of arm's reach of the fence on the hill side,” he said.

The man who did not want to be identified says he lives in the neighbourhood and fears what would happen if a child could have grabbed the drug paraphernalia.

“Don’t leave it around to hurt innocent people who don’t need to tolerate this,” he said.

He said he believes a child could have used a toy to grab the needles that he picked up and placed in a bag.

“It’s bad enough people have to be using this … but what kind of life are they going to have if they get sick from this and have AIDS at the age of three,” he said.

If you find a needle in the downtown area contact the Downtown Kelowna Association at 250-470-9058 or City of Kelowna Parks if found in parks or public property at 250-469-8503.