DNA dog poop tracking

[DCfam]

If only we could do this here! Ever try walking down the street holding your kids' hands while all of you are trying the avoid the smeared dog crap on the sidewalk?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/us/02dogs.html?_r=1

 

[captainmcd]

On another thread I commented that I think the problem is better than it was a few years ago. If I look down at the sidewalk, I hit my head on the low tree branches or street signs. If I look up, I step in the stuff. But it seems to me that people are cleaning off their sidewalks more often than before. It may be a matter of civic pride more than regulations. I don't think DNA identification will ever happen in Buenos Aires.

 

[DCfam]

Hope springs eternal... Maybe we should carry around plastic bags and when we see someone not picking up their dogs feces we should pick it up and return it to them... "I think you forgot something..."

 

[MizzMarr]

We were out for a walk not long ago and saw a man picking up his dog poop in the street. Happy to observe this, and about to commend him, he then threw the poop AND the bag into the street. WTF!? I maybe not so nicely pointed out that the best place for the bags was in the garbage can and he should pick it up, and he told me that if it bothered me so much that *I* should do it. I retorted that the poop was his, not mine, but it didn't seem to phase him. Ridiculous.

My boyfriend has been known to see people throw garbage out of the windows of their cars, etc., and while on bike go back to pick it up and return it to them saying something along the lines of "hey, I think this is yours!"

ETA: I have seen a lot (a LOT) more people cleaning up their dog poop since I arrived, and the problem is *much* better than it was in '06. I just found it crazy that this guy made the problem worse by wrapping the poop in plastic and then throwing it in the street, meaning it wouldn't dissolve in the rain, etc.

 

[jb5]

On the few occasions I've seen people actually pick up their dog's poop, I've wanted to give them a citizenship award! I've always wondered if a newspaper or billboard campagne would work, appealing to pride in, and love for, the city.

But then I see the trash all over the streets, and people littering everywhere, and my delusion subsides.

 

[va2ba]

I don't see what the big issue is...it's not hard not to step in the stuff, even if you are walking with your head up. I've been here 2 years and I've never stepped in it.

It seems that people here just like to nitpick about every little thing that they can. But, that is just like porteños so kudos for blending in!

 

[tomdesigns]

Lets consider one thing shall we. PIGS live in SHIT! that is a fact! And the streets and side walks here are covered with it and the smell of shit and urine. And the dogs are not the only source of the problem. I can not count the number of times I have seen Argentinos just whip it out and piss on someone's front wall or walk like it was not a problem.

Noticing the presence of, and not enjoying walking around trying to avoid piles of crap while constantly encountering the smell of, shit and piss is not nit picking. It is simply a desire to enjoy a cleaner environment. Which most of us expats are accustomed to.

Beyond that there is simply no reason for so much shit all over the place, other then the fact that homeless dogs and people roam freely. So what do you do? Institutionalize the humans and euthanize the dogs or just live with the shit and piss?

 

[MizzMarr]

I don't think the homeless dogs' are to blame (and the macho culture here that shuns the idea of spaying/neutering animals is another topic altogether)... I definitely have seen tons of people with dogs on leashes not being picked up after, and frankly there aren't that many homeless dogs around here.

Personally, I've never had issue with stepping in it. It's just gross, and combined with litter/trash on the street it makes this place unclean in a way it really shouldn't be. I think education is the problem, but it IS getting better (esp. with the younger generation).