On crotte de chien

Pardon my French, but I couldn’t very well entitle my post ”On dog shit” (especially since that wouldn’t at all have been appropriate since we’ve only come to the letter C in the A-Z challenge…). The thing is, I feel the need to rant a little. Not about dogs. About dog owners.

I get that dogs have to “go”, just like humans. Despite centuries of domestication, they have not yet mastered the ultimate trick – using the loo. Thus they have to go outside. Very well. For this to be an acceptable solution, however, it requires a responsible dog owner. In my opinion, owners who cannot be bothered to pick up afterwards shouldn’t be allowed to keep dogs at all!

It certainly doesn’t help that it’s snow outside. In fact, it almost makes it worse. Because the snow preserves the lovely little turds, you see, so that when winter melts away, the evidence is still there. And trust me, three months old crapadoodle refrigerated by snow is every bit as disgusting as fresh one.

If you’re a dog owner who considers the scooping one of the least pleasant things about owning a dog, you have my sympathy. But if you draw the conclusion from this that you should be exempt from picking up after your canine friend, you deserve no sympathy at all. And please make sure to not only scoop up, but also dispose of the bag properly. Leaving “doggy bags” behind is unhygienic, it’s ugly, it’s disrespectful, and it can be downright dangerous to young children. If the kid is in the right age it will not only touch, but often try to taste everything and anything found on the ground. A dog can be put down for biting a child, but what about an owner leaving toxic waste behind just because (s)he is lazy?

I’m exaggerating. I don’t mean people should be executed for not picking up after their dogs. But I do think they should be sentenced to community service – cleaning sidewalks for dog “surprises”, of course. 

I call it "Beauty on the Beast"