As a dog owner I am sensitive to the complaints about people who don’t pick up after their dogs. It only takes one recalcitrant dog owner to smear the rest of us who take our dog dooty seriously. When someone sees poop in their yard and they don’t own a dog, they cast a judgmental eye towards every dog owner in the hood.
Not surprisingly, some dog owners actually think its okay not to pick up after their pooch. In his column in The Washington Post today, John Kelly wrote about “an air of defiance among those who responded to my request that they explain why they don't pick up their dog's messes.”
“I never have [picked up poop] and here's why. I live in a D.C. suburb with plenty of woods around. My dog has been trained to go off the trail in the woods to do her business, where rain and bacteria and bugs dispose of this natural product in an ecologically sound manner. Where do people think all those plastic bags go? Into our environment, to virtually never decay.”
Not so fast. John points out that recent testing of Accotink Creek by the U.S. Geological Survey revealed “dog waste accounted for 15 percent of the E. coli in the stream.”
And the plastic bags?
There are biodegradable poop bags a pet owner can purchase for as little as three cents a bag.
No more excuses.
The Birthday Girl
18 hours ago
