St. Mary's Catholic Church completely fenced in its playing field earlier this year after it was virtually destroyed by dog owners who ignored regulations, the church said.

Neighbors used the church's sports field for various activities, including training their dogs on weekends. According to St. Mary's business manager Teri Tucci, the owners rarely cleaned up their dogs' messes and ignored "no dogs" signs that the church posted.

Over the past year, Tucci said, "the problem had increased, where the children playing there had stepped in, slipped and fell in dog feces."

The church tried to work with the town and the police department, installing a keypad at the entrance, but the public still reached under a fence to open the gate and let themselves in. Finally, the church was forced to padlock the area.

"The public was told 'No more dogs.' They didn't listen," Tucci said. "When people refused to respect our issues, verbally or with signs, we didn't know what else to do. They ruined it for themselves."

Father Justin Zawadzki says public schools post those signs effectively, but at St. Mary's "the only way for us to keep the dogs out would be to fence and lock the field."

Some neighbors, however, say the field had become a community park. According to one Tait Avenue resident, Los Gatans often used the field to picnic and read the newspaper. Some days a resident played his guitar there.

"There's no safe places to play anymore," the resident said.

Zawadzki points out that the neighbors do have their own homes and yards. "In what sense are we depriving them of something?" Zawadzki asked.

Doug Carlson, who lives on Overlook Road, used to drive by and see children playing in the field on weekends. Although Bachman Park is nearby and is available to the public, Carlson said, St. Mary's has a softball field, while Bachman Park does not.

On the other hand, Carlson says, the dog feces is a good reason to close the field. "If that's actually what was happening, I can appreciate their concern," Carlson said.

Tucci says the field's closing has caused some conflict between the church and neighbors. Church staff have been yelled at by those who want to walk their dogs inside but are not allowed to, and some residents have tried to obtain the keypad code from those affiliated with the church and school.

"We don't want to be bad neighbors. I'm not for closing off anything. That's not what we're about," Tucci said. "It's not an aversion to dogs. It's an aversion to the lack of respect we're receiving."

Tucci says it's unlikely that the field will be opened to the public again; however, the space will be open during the church's annual country fair in October.