Is this the answer to lazy dog owners?

I'm a dog-owner. Always have been. I walk my dog twice daily and pick up his poop. Often, I will pick up several other deposits. I figure no-one likes stepping over dog poop on the beach, at the park, on the footpath. And it only takes one lazy or disrespectful owner to leave the poop where it fell for a week for an area to become fly-blown and unhealthy.

Fines work to a certain extent, but does Tel Aviv have the answer?

The Guardian reports that each month, 500 kilograms of excrement is dumped on the streets of this Israeli city. But … it has launched a new scheme that will see every owner of uncollected dog poop tracked down.

How?

DNA matching.

It is now compulsory for Tel Aviv residents to register their dogs on a DNA database. Rangers can collect samples from any dog faeces left on the street, locate owners and fine them. Citizen sleuths can also take a swab of any offending excrement and take it to a laboratory for a DNA test.

"Then, you would cross-reference the results with a spreadsheet of all the dogs in the vicinity of your house in order to track down the precise pooch and punish the owner," The Guardian explains.

Seems like a lot of trouble? If it keeps everyone toeing the line, and happy, bring it on, I say.

Does dog poop annoy the heck out of you? Are you a dog-owner who picks up after other owners?

11 comments

Drives me demented. Every single day when I go for my walk, the footpath is littered with dog poo.  And that is just one street in the municipality.  There is also a park with a children's playground.  Dogs are supposed to be on the leash, and yet owners let them run wild, and they poo where the kids play.  Is that right?  There is never a dog catcher around when you need them.  Our rates are sky high yet the council could make millions by fining dog owners here and reduce our rates.  Disclaimer - I hate dogs with a passion and have been terrified of them all my life - so yes I am biased.  BUT I have friends who own dogs who train them to behave, put them on a lead when required, and who pick up after them.  I have no problem with them.

 

 

Where as I agree with the necessity to keep your dog on a lead at all times except at a designated dog leash free area and I agree that all owners should pick up their dogs excrement however an article like this does bring out the dog haters. Owners should be prosecuted for leaving their dogs excrement or off the lead in a public place. I've had dogs most of my life and volunteer and at the RSPCA and spent 38 years working in mental health services with children and families so I'm very aware of the importance of dogs in people's lives for their mental health and well being. I'm also aware it takes a certain sort of personality to hate dogs as much some people do notwithstanding that I understand that some people are scared of dogs because of early trauma. I'm also very aware of the amount of cruelty and gross neglect to dogs that people get away with because of weak and inadequate regulations but I guess something has got to make the dog haters lives happy. 

 

 

I am a dog lover and feel that you can't have a better, loyal friend.

I am disgusted with dog owners, paid walkers, and cat owners, who allow their animals to poop outside their own back yard. My dogs have always held on until after their walk and then race up the back yard to go or if short taken will poop in a bag.

What I don't understand is how the dog can be blamed as they are only doing what comes naturally. It is the walker who is at fault and should be held accountable.

In my area where we walk at least 5 to 10 kilometers a day it is safer for my shoes and my dog's feet if we don't walk on the paths as they are carpeted in some areas with poop. I now also find where owners have picked up the poop but leave the bag with the offering on the foot path.

I also have trouble with walkers who don't have their animals on a leash, have them on a flexi leash or let a child, on their own walk a dog.  My dog is aggressive to other dogs when they approach her. She wears all the high vis wear with written warnings that she likes her space but walkers still allow their dogs (and/or children) to approach her even though she is off the path and made to sit. This makes walking a nightmare.

A dog DNA data base is a brilliant idea but again it has to be policed. Rangers in the ACT are virtually non existent, probably too few in number for the area to be covered, so who is going to retrieve the poop for the test and will the fine/charge be enough to discourage this lack of respect.

It is a shame that we have become a society where pass the buck instead of being responsible for our own actions is now the norm.

 

 

I tend to agree with you mem, 

I am a dog and animal lover --and would prefer them to humans actually

It also worries me that the amount of plastic bags that are used to pick up dog droppings  -- we have too much darn plastic and it is causing such horrors to the environment --

 Dogs are great mates and you will find that it is mostly the owners that are to blame for the bad behaviour of dogs and children

I agree. It is the fault of dog owners and not the dog. I've always thought that any dog owner should be licensed and have mandatory training. Similar to getting a car license.

If you are so against plastic bags to pick up dog poo with, what do you suggest instead PlanB? It's hard enough to make owners do the right thing using something that will at least protect their own hand, I can just imagine how well it would go down if you start demand the use of say tissue paper (recycled paper of course) to do the job.

 

Well there are plastic-type bags made from plant material --which is supposed to break down, which I always buy for the garbage

 

The shops should be made to use them also -- because they still SELL them but choose to use these reusable's that take many more years to break down when thrown out, they are making a fortune from these so-called reusable ones

 

I think if one was to train the owner, as well as the dog, might be a GOOD idea. I have been on a footpath talking to friends when a person with a dog on a leash walks past and the dog just does its business right in front of us. Guess what ? they just keep walking and leave the poop where it fell. 

That is reprehensible. I would have to say something.

Probably because the owner had their nose in their phone and the dog on an extraordinarily long leash!

Look at the cases of dogs murdering babies and adults, the crap on the ground is bad enough but the murdering animals that are uncontrollable are a crime, if the dog has caused an injury or death or just an attack the owner and the dog should pay the price in law, don't hesitate, the councils should put them down straight away, ban these American bull terriers, we don't want them here.

I was recently in a large medical center and after I walked past one of the doctors surgery door I was abut 15 metres past and heard a large dog bark twice, I looked around behind me and saw one of the doors fly open and close again then open so fast it slammed into the wall.

Next thing a large older dog flew out the doorway and turned left and headed straight for me barking and baring it's teeth and bailed me up in the middle of the hallway, I had a heavy jacket on and kept my hands i the pockets to fend it off, it did not bite me but went around me 3 times trying to get a bite in.

From the surgery I was going to next the door flew opened and the secretary beckoned me to come in but the dog would not let me get to it, the secretary from the office where the dog came from came running out and kept yelling "he wont bite" I was thinking she was looking at the wrong end, I was terrified, being 70 years old if I had fallen I was in fear of my life.

She grabbed the harness of this older big fat Labrador Guide dog and dragged it back to where it came from.

This was a bloody Labrador guide dog with a harness on, I was so shocked I had to sit for 30 minutes in the surgery.

I had about 8 witnesses who were all shocked, I never found out who owned this mongrel. I wasn't game to go into where the dog came from, this dog will probably murder it's owner in future.

I have never been frightened of dogs all my life but this is just unbelievable what happened.

2 days later a long haired German Shepherd looking dog on a lead jumped up and pulled the owner toward me with teeth bared and barking, for no apparent reason, while on our walk.

I think Covid has got into these dogs and owners and is sending them stupid.

I have never had a problem with dogs  before or since.

 

 

 

It is a shame that the owners that have these dogs can't be  "put down" as well" 

So many scum use their dogs for fighting and steal peoples pets to have them killed in these fights my friend had her dog taken and found out later that had happened -- it was heartbreaking

 

Sounds a good idea initially. However the work required would employ yet another dept of additional council employees. giving the local council another excuse to raise their obscene rates !!  Being a monopoly !!

 

We have an American Staffordshire Terrier in our building that is completely uncontrollable. If ever off the lead (which it often is, it ignores any calls from the owner, and has bailed up other tenants in much the same way as Oxleigh describes their experience. This is a big strong male dog un-neutered and stinks like you wouldn't believe. The stench permeates the entire building. The owners of course are totally unperturbed and claim that the dog is completely safe for them and their two very young children (one is only a few weeks old). Unfortunately, tenancy laws have changed and it is almost impossible to refuse a resident having a dog or indeed any pet. In our case, it is owners of the unit that has the dog and therefore unlikely to let it go or even move away. The rest of us have to suffer because these 'rights to own pets' ignore the realities of individual badly trained animals that inflict hardship on others who live in the same block.

have you tried the RSPCA, not sure this will work, from past experience they are a paper tiger in most cases. Just like the United Nations.

I knew someone many long years ago that could make dogs disappear if they were a nuisance and especially dangerous. One country town saw him as a hero though no one could name him or prove a thing.

Surely there is some authority you can report this to - may have to exhaust your imagination of those that you can report to - try google

These owners are responsible for their dog AND its behavior and should be HELD to the responsibility  and that is what should be made to happen -- I bet their kids will grow up with the same rotten attitude as their bogan parents

A lot of the dog owners take their dogs for walks so they do not have to pick up the poo in their own yards, so why would one expect them to pick it up after their dogs in the street ???

DNA poo matching sounds an excellent idea as long as the fines are great enough to pay for the extra rangers.

I agree with the dislike of dog poo.

BUT the real problem is cat pee and poo. It really stinks (literally0)and not only that it contaminates the soil. My wife is extremely frustrated with the impact of this contamination on the soil of her flower gardens. Cat owners generally don't care and often don't contain their beasts at all.

You are so right Raff,  I am sick of cat owners that allow their cats to roam and mess in my garden ALL the time -- AND they kill so much wildlife too -- I have fronted them about it but they couldn't care less

Cat pee is just awful IMO.

Once had a cat pee in the space between the bonnet and the windscreen of my car where it had been lazing in the sun. Right near the air conditioning intake vents. No way I could get rid it, the smell lasted for years. Revolting.

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