UPDATE: 3 p.m.

The City of West Kelowna has announced plans to install new park seating by early to mid-February, following the removal of picnic tables and benches at local dog parks.

In an email to Castanet, the city stated that the new seating will be more bench-like in design and aimed at improving both safety and park dynamics.

"[It] should help focus users more in towards the park and we are optimistic that this will be the win-win-win that is needed for safety, accessibility, better controlled pet play and so forth," said a statement from the city.

ORIGINAL: 4 a.m.

There’s no sitting down on the job if you’re visiting a dog park in West Kelowna, unless you bring your own chair.

The City of West Kelowna has removed picnic tables and benches from the parks, leaving many users scratching their heads.

The city says it removed the seating options because people were "prioritizing socializing over pets," leading to "unsafe run-ins between pets and people and uncollected pet feces."

"We would really rather not have to be the safety police, but it’s something we must be conscientious of as the park provider and maintainer," the city statement said.

Amanda Chaplin has two dogs and meets up regularly with a group of other people to exercise their pets at the Westbank Centre dog park. She contacted the city after the three picnic tables at the park were removed and was told it was because the city had received several complaints about people not watching their pets or picking up after them.

“And I said, well I’m not sure how removing a seat or a table is going to change people’s behaviours and attitudes on doing the appropriate thing," Chaplin said.

The city said it is working on solutions and asks for patience. In the meantime, it said people can bring their own chairs if they take them away when they leave the park.

That’s challenging for pet owners with mobility concerns.

“I’m an amputee, and I’m not the only one. There are other people that have difficulty with mobility and that” said Dave Waggood, who has lived in West Kelowna for over 30 years.

“To bring your own chair out and to have to carry your dog or put your dog on a leash and be in control of that all the time is very difficult.”

He says the tables were also somewhere for those with mobility concerns to sit out of the way of pets while they romp and play.

“The dogs are just playing, but they play pretty hard and they run into you, or they’re excited and they run into you, they could push somebody over,” Adds Waggood.

The city said it needs a bit more time to come up with solutions.

“We want our parks to be a place for fun and socializing, but in a dog park especially, this includes our dog owners maintaining sight and control of their dogs, at all times, and picking up afterwards, please, because as much as we love our furry members of the family, they don’t always have the same rules for socializing that we do,” said the statement.

“We count on pet owners to keep things friendly and respectful and truly appreciate all the good ones out there who do.”