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The politics of dog poo
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by Criticom | July 3, 2008 at 07:36 am
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Dogs (and raccoons) were deliberately poisoned recently in Toronto's High Park. Nobody knows why.
The police never found the person who poisoned a dog at my neighbourhood park a summer or so ago. City dogs and their owners have a way, it seems, of provoking both kindly and murderous thoughts in non-dog owners.
I am not a dog owner myself, though I have come to regard pets more affectionately over the years. My wife would love a dog. She talks to dogs when she sees them as you would talk to a baby.
But she is a busy woman and insists that I take care of the animal if we are to acquire one. No deal, I say.
No doubt many real dog owners are busy people, too, because they do the strangest, most inconsiderate things. Last week, for example, I had to scoop two plastic bags filled with dog poo out of the lawn cuttings bag, which I had placed by the curb.
I suppose a dog owner (or two) thought, "heck, I'll drop it here. It's just compost." Don't they know that dog poo belongs in the food recycler bin?
The Tao of dog pooPlastic bags full of dog excrement are a ubiquitous ornament in today's urban landscape. They have a way of appearing in empty garbage bins after they've been collected. They also show up in recycling boxes, perched on top of the newspaper and plastics.
I've seen them hung from fences, gates and around door handles. They are like messages in a bottle, washed up on the familiar cityscape.
But, of course, you can't quite decipher the message here. Are they urban inukshuks, pointing the way for fellow dog enthusiasts? Or merely a sign of careless owners? Perhaps it would take a professor of semiotics at the university to figure this out.
At one time, I lived in a neighborhood where doggie bags would appear early in the morning. They were tied almost tactfully with a plastic bow as if they were a birthday present.
The bag would be dropped at different corners or in front of different houses. Sometimes, I thought, I'd wake up really early to catch the culprit. Or camp out overnight, sleeping under the starless city sky. How much is an urban annoyance worth anyway?
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 12:32 on July 3rd, 2008
Criticom, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Ya,
Lazy POS dog owners "deposit" poobags in my garbage cans as well. When I find out who they are and where they live I will be re-depositing their dog poo on their car windows.
at 21:01 on July 3rd, 2008
This sign was taken 4 years ago in L.A. I was staying with friends and there was this sign right outside of the place my friend was living at the time. I just thought it was really funny and took a picture of with my camera at the time. I agree with the person who wrote the sign about picking up your dog's poo. It' gross and it smells when it's left behind, also people tend to step on it or in it. Your shoes never seems to be the same after you step in dog poo.
ashcroft54 has contributed a photo to this story.
at 08:34 on July 4th, 2008
This was taken at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. I thought it was excellent that they provide dog poo bags for dog owners there, so as to keep the park clean. It would be great if we have this everywhere; no one likes stepping on dog poo.
♀Aishah has contributed a photo to this story.
at 12:32 on July 7th, 2008
Before it became politically correct to poop and scoop, I had a neighbour who had a dog that he would let out the front door every evening when he came home. The dog - a large dog - would pass by 4 other neighbours and make a beeline for the corner of my front yard. This went on for some time, even after some discussion with the offensive owner. And he refused to clean it up.
So I decided to go on my own offensive. I staggered my work hours so I would be home before the neighbour. I would sit out on my front step with my high pressure hose and wait for the dog. The neighbour would slip up sooner or later and forget about me. Sure enough my opportunity came as the dog squatted to drop a load on the corner of my front yard. I acted swiftly and drove the turd right back where it belonged with my trusty hose. The dog took off squealing for home. Within seconds the offensive neighbour appeared ready to berate me. Again my swift action deflected any verbal abuse he has prepared. I jumped to my feet and armed with my trusty hose I said "If there is a next time, you'll both be feeling that tingle that only fibre or a good enema can give. Understand?"
And le voila, no more problem dog.
BTW - I scoop and take it home to put it in my own garbage can, even if we're on the road, out of respect for my fellow man.
at 15:32 on July 19th, 2008
I appreciate when people clean up their dog's poop on the street, but I can't stand it when I find these bags on hikes in the mountains where I live. I'm out there to see nature - not to see little plastic bags parked all over the trail. I'd rather the poop left unbagged than have to see these eyesores.
jisaac01 has contributed a photo to this story.