Dog owners in hipster Brooklyn are barking mad over prickly weeds overtaking a popular local park that they worry could harm their precious pooches.
The dreaded invasive foxtail grass in the dog run at Bushwick’s Maria Hernandez Park could be a danger to pets because its barbed seeds could scratch animals’ skin, ears, eyes — and even lungs, worried owners railed.
“Last year a foxtail seed barb got lodged in our dog’s inner eyelid and scratched her cornea,” resident Jasmine Colahan told The Post.
Local Brendan Morrison, who has lived near the park for three years, said he was aware of the harmful grass — but noted “there’s obviously a lot of people moving into the neighborhood, and they probably don’t know.
“There should be more awareness and maybe a sign for owners,” Morrison said. “It’s up to us to form a group and do it ourselves. The park’s not going to do this, it’s our responsibility as well.”
One park volunteer who runs the Maria Hernandez Park Dog Run Pack Instagram account said resident brought their concerns to the city but the grass was never fully removed.
“Since then, the foxtail grass has spread considerably throughout the park,” the volunteer told The Post.
But a spokesperson for NYC Parks maintained that the “commonly occurring weed” is already under control as far as the agency is concerned.
“We work to manage it whenever it appears in our parks through regular cutting and trimming,” the spokesperson said. The agency urges “New Yorkers to report issues with foxtail grass at any location via 311.”
Since Jan. 1, 2024, Parks has “corrected” 74 weed/grass complaints in Bushwick, according to the city’s 311 portal.
Foxtail grass seeds can also get lodged into nasal passages and be inhaled into a pet’s lungs, according to MedVet – and require surgery if a barb migrates into the chest or abdomen.
Multiple visits from a Post reporter to the park this spring found tall foxtail grass encroaching on the fence to the dog run – and no evidence of recent mowing.
The matter of foxtail grass is just the latest qualm locals have at the park, where uncontained rat poison was found sprinkled near the children’s playground and dog run in April.
“I don’t know why they have such a hard time trying to fix this,” Bushwick native and dog owner Kevin told The Post of the foxtail grass — pointing to the loose rat poison, as well as dirty bathrooms and a massive rain puddle taking up a swath of the dog run, as other growing concerns at the popular park.
“Put something there, make it out of manure even,” he said of the foxtail grass patch, pointing to fertilizer’s ability to crowd out weeds.
“It’s going to smell weird, but it’s definitely safer.”