How Do You Get Them to Scoop the Poop?

Mountainous piles of un-scooped dog poop seem to be a problem all over the world.

In the United States, people who keep track of these things estimate that about 40% of American dog owners leave their dog's poop for someone else to pick up.

Poop scooping laws probably make the legislators feel useful but so far haven't had much of an impact on the poop problem.

What about signs that tell you to pick it up?

They work well in countries like Japan, where everyone is law-abiding.

A poop that could walk would make it easy!

But then, no country would have a compliance problem if the poop would actually pick itself up and follow you home, as in the poster above.

Where the signs don't work, France for instance, people must come up with other solutions. In Paris, poop collectors used to suck it up as they rode about on their "motocrottes."

A French Motocrotte

In England, unauthorized dog poop falls under the jurisdiction of the anti-terrorist laws and is monitored by the ubiquitous surveillance cameras. Brighton's Dog Control Order, passed in 2009 provides for fines of up to £1,000 for those who don't scoop the poop.A British association called Big Brother Watch found that 345 different town councils had invoked anti-terror laws 9607 times against pooping dogs and other equally heinous criminals 9607 times over a period of 3 years.

Hastings, on the other hand, liked the French idea, and in 2011 purchased four vacuums called "Henry the Hoover."

All vacuum cleaners are called "hoovers" in England.
The verb is "to hoover," as in, "I hoovered the carpet this morning."

The Hastings' Henrys probably look like this: 

The town council estimated that Henry would save them £420,000 a year.

In 2009, there were plans afoot in a small town in Germany to collect fur or saliva from all 420 resident dogs so as to do DNA matching and fine owners of any poop that might be found. 

I can't find any evidence that the scheme ever got off the ground.DNA testing is starting to gain some traction in the U.S., however. As of August of this year, a company called PooPrints tracks down poopetrators for hundreds of property managers in 30 states.

The town of Petah Tivkah, near Tel Aviv, does DNA testing with a twist. If the poop examiner finds your dog's leavings a a marked receptacle, you get a reward--coupons for dog food or toys.

You get a reward for putting it here, a fine if you leave it on the street.

If he finds it anywhere else, you get a fine.

But sometimes, if the government fails to take action, and the private sector fails to see any financial incentive for collecting poop, you just have to take the law into your own hands. This is Super Vaclav.

He is Prague's self-appointed dog poop enforcer. If he sees your dog poop, and you don't pick it up, he will punish you by throwing it at you or smearing it on you. I doubt whether he is still active, but videos of him from 2011 are widely available.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4498886/.html
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10001200.Sussex_dog_walkers_to_be_spied_on_with_CCTV/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/may/25/councils-abusing-covert-surveillance
http://www.digitalspy.com/odd/news/a438424/kent-council-to-dna-test-dog-poo.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/4400064/German-town-plans-dog-DNA-database-to-stop-fouling.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/dna-tests-required-to-ide_n_1819637.html
http://trueslant.com/maryannmott/2009/03/03/dna-testing-catches-slackers-who-dont-scoop-poop/
http://www.freakonomics.com/2008/09/18/our-dog-feces-dream-is-finally-a-reality/
http://gawker.com/5846781/superheros-main-weapon-against-apathy-dog-poop

Could Your Dog Learn to Drive?

In case you weren't watching the news lately, 3 dogs in New Zealand have learned to drive a car.It only took 8 weeks for the dogs to learn, which wasn't as long as it took me.

Porter, Monty, & Ginny all know how to drive

They'll be demonstrating their skills on live TV on Monday, December 10 (which is probably Sunday for us). They're not quite ready for the Indy 500 yet. Their specially modified Mini will only go about 6 miles an hour, and their trainer has an "off" button in case they try to ram the camera man.

Still, I'm impressed. I can't even manage to train Caitlin to bring her squeaky chicken back to me, much less chauffeur me to the dog park.

The canine motorists are a publicity stunt dreamed up the the SPCA* in Auckland as a way to get more pets adopted. They shouldn't have any problem getting these particular dogs adopted, but considering how much it must have cost to train them and retrofit the Minis that they're driving, the cost per adoption has got to be pretty high.

*Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals http://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/12/06/new-zealands-spca-draftfcb-and-mini-put-dogs-driving-seat-unconventional-adoption
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/meet-monty-a-dog-who-can-be-your-designated-driver/309186-77.html

Cyanide at Harry Griffen Park

I'm seriously concerned about the plan to poison all the gophers with cyanide, which will apparently be ongoing through February 28.

I agree that there are a lot of gophers, and maybe they're a problem.

But using cyanide to kill them in a park where children play and dogs come, not only to the dog run, but all over the park?

Is killing the gophers worth his life?

They say they won't use poison near the dog run or the children's playground.

That doesn't satisfy me. All it takes is one parent or one dog owner who didn't see the notice and lets a child or pet loose in the wrong area, and we have a tragedy.

Then there's the :"collateral damage." That would include all the hawks in the park, the heron who comes daily, the skunks, raccoons, coyotes, and possums who use the park at night when we're not there. Not to mention any neighborhood cats who may hunt in the park.

Do all the neighbors around the park know about this plan? I bet not. Has everyone who frequents the park read the notices?

I think that using cyanide here is a really bad idea. I'm going to let the city council, the Parks & Recreation Department, and anyone else I can think of know my opinion, and if you agree with me, I hope you will, too.

Dogs at Harry Griffen Park--Wadan

This handsome dog is Wadan.

He is a one-year-old Formosan Mountain Dog, Until Novemer 11 of this year, he was living wild on the streets in a mountainous region near Taipei, where his most important task was avoiding the dogcatcher.

His owner, Mary Burns, says he's terrified of white, boxy vans, so she called her contact in Taiwan, who verified her suspicion. The dogcatcher drives a white, boxy van.

Wadan is gentle and playful with other dogs, but he's still very nervous around most people, especially men. Mary obviously adores him, and appears to be adored in return.

Considering that he was a feral dog less than a month ago, Wadan is doing very well indeed. It's lucky for everyone that he managed to evade that boxy white van.

Wadan has generated a lot of interest at the dog park. If Mary should ever decide she doesn't want him any more (fat chance!), I think he'd have volunteers lined up to take him.

Has Your Dog Ever Done This?

Could Kennel Cough Be Good for Humans?

One of the viruses thought to cause kennel cough in dogs is called parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5 for short).

A Representation of the PIV5 Virus

We humans are immune to it. If we get the virus, our bodies promptly destroy it, as well as any other pathogen (such as malaria or HIV) that happens to be along for the ride.

The ride-along pathogen is destroyed--but now our bodies recognize it and can clobber it if it shows up again.

That's the theory, anyway. The idea of using a virus as a delivery mechanism for a vaccine isn't new--but with most viruses, our bodies destroy the virus and its ride-along pathogen so quickly that we don't gain any immunity.

PIV5 seems to be different from the viruses that have been previously tried. Scientists at the University of Georgia have been experimenting with it for 15 years and have achieved promising results with mice. Immunity to the virus does not seem to limit its effectiveness in either mice or humans.

Biao He, Principal Investigator for the UGA Study

If the Georgia scientists are right about its potential, this canine virus could open the way for vaccines against a whole host of diseases that have previously been difficult or impossible to treat.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121127111350.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Fdogs+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Plants+%26+Animals+News+--+Dogs%29

An Unusual Job for a Border Collie

In the town of Great Cornard, in Suffolk, England, a 6 year old Border Collie named Meg is on litter patrol.

Perhaps the most socially responsible dog on the planet, she cruises the local park every day with her owner, Ken Pople. When she finds candy wrappers or soda cans, she picks them up and tosses them into the trash can.

If she sees an irresponsible human littering, she's on it right away--and it goes straight into the trash. Her good habits have started to rub off on the local youth, too. After watching her put their used soda can into the trash, they decided to start picking up after themselves, proudly displaying their bagged-up litter to Meg's owner as they deposited it into the waste bin.

The local cleaning crew can take it easy. Meg has finished their job before they arrive, and the local dog warden (aka, animal control officer) is hoping to enlist her services in a local anti-littering campaign.

I wonder whether I could train Caitlin to put the stuff she finds into the trash instead of eating it. If she masters that, I'll see whether she can learn to scoop poop.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dog-picks-up-litter-and-drops-770557
http://www.dogheirs.com/larne/posts/784-trash-cleaning-collie-setting-an-example-for-others
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2119233/Sheep-dog-set-star-anti-littering-campaign.html