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More Cities Use DNA To Catch Dog Owners Who Don't Pick Up Waste
dkatana writes: For many cities one of the biggest cleaning expenses is dealing with dog poop. While it is impossible to ask the birds to refrain from splattering the city, dogs have owners and those owners are responsible for disposing of their companion's waste. The few who shirk their duty create serious problems for the rest. Poop is not just a smelly inconvenience. It's unsanitary, extra work for cleaning crews, and in the words of one Spanish mayor, on a par with vandalism. Cities have tried everything from awareness campaigns with motorized poo videos, to publishing offenders names to mailing the waste back to the dog owner. In one case, after a 147 deliveries, dog waste incidents in the town dropped 70 percent. Those campaigns have had limited effect and after an initial decline in incidents, people go back to their old ways. Which has left many cities resorting to science and DNA identification of waste. Several European cities, including Naples and one borough in London, are building DNA registries of pets. Offending waste will then be tested and the cost of the analysis charged to the dog owner, along with a fine.
Then you're telling people it's OK to let their dogs shit everywhere. That's a bad idea. Moreover, the dogshit cleaners will be AWOL most of the time (government workers, you know) so there will STILL be dogshit on the streets all the time. Costs will go up every year, and the people who actually clean up after their dogs will be the ones who suffer the most.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
It's training people not to let their dogs shit everywhere. After a while, everyone will know that if you let your dog shit on the street, it's going to come right back to you with a fine attached. So why even let it happen? Believe it or not, there are people out there (solipsists) who are convinced the laws don't apply to them. They don't just scoff at laws, they take great joy in breaking them. These little "quality of life" laws sound like piddly shit but they do make a difference in a crowded city. Don't do it and you end up like San Francisco, which has a huge problem with shit lying in the streets. It stinks to high heaven and you can smell it from a mile away.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
There's still going to be homeless people with dogs in SF, so you've still got to clean it up. The DNA fines may make the job more manageable though.
Also, what about people who own horses? I see horse manure on the streets not infrequently, and it's a lot worse than dog.
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The vast majority of cats bury their waste in unseen areas. The vast majority of dogs shit right on the fucking pathway.
In either case the noses that should be rubbed into it is the owner's.
That's like charging a "speeding tax" to everyone on the road and then letting people drive as fast as they want.
It's a minority of the dog owners in most towns that don't pick up after their dogs. Charging everyone for a few shitheads violating the law is bad policy, no matter what the offense is.