Picking up dog poop is not only part of the joy of owning a pooch, but it’s also a given – usually.
Nice reminder signs/Ryn Gargulinski
One Tucson neighborhood is facing a dog doo dilemma that is tearing apart households, pitting husband against wife and, of course, dog owners against non-owners.
The dilemma began several months back when dog poop became a constant fixture along the neighborhood’s sidewalks, paths and other areas.
The Homeowners Association promptly installed jazzy new signs that gently reminded folks to be a good neighbor and clean up after their dogs. The HOA also included an announcement in the monthly newsletter, asking residents to please pick up the dog doo.
It didn’t work.
The next monthly newsletter urged residents to report their inconsiderate neighbors who left piles of dog doo throughout the land. People were told to snap photos of the offending dog and owner leaving the poop behind then follow the dog owners home to get their address.
Photos and info was then to be sent to HOA headquarters, which would deal with the matter appropriately.
That didn’t work, either.
The third newsletter in the dog doo series breezily announced an increase in HOA dues, with part of the new monies going to pay for dog poop cleanup. Now dog owners and non-dog owners alike would be footing the bill for Loren’s Pooper Scooper Service to regularly sweep through the neighborhood to do its thing.
Not-as-nice reminder signs/Ryn Gargulinski
Loren’s motto is “We’re No. 1 in the No. 2 business.”
As cheery as the motto is, the cheer does not extend to residents who are now forced to foot a dog poo cleanup bill. It is unfair for those who clean up after their pooches and especially unfair for residents who don’t own dogs at all.
People who never cleaned up after their dogs are pretty much exempt from the dilemma. They will likely simply continue not to clean up after their dogs.
People who own dogs and always cleaned up after them now wonder if they should continue to keep cleaning up the poo or let it sit there for the service to clean, since they are paying the service fees anyway.
People who don’t own dogs, in addition to being wholly shafted, now may wonder if they should get a dog and let it mess all over so they, too, can at least be getting the service that they are forced to pay for.
Hence the dilemma rocks a neighborhood – and the poop just keeps on coming.
[tnipoll]
What do you think?
What do your HOA dues cover, or are you lucky enough not to have an HOA?
Have dilemmas rocked your own neighborhood? What were they?
If you are dumb enough to be in an HOA, you just have to lie back and enjoy whatever idiocy they come up with.
thank you for your thoughtful input – but you still didn’t answer the dog doo pickup question!
c’mon, tip, i won’t be able to sleep unless i know what you would do.
I would look around to see if the neighbors were watching – it’s just like cutting the grass and other annoying things you have to do in order to live in peace with your neighbors, whether you live in an HOA or not.
thanks!
now i’m off to take a nap…hahahhaha….
I would clean it up. Let me tell you that one reason that We do not let Shadow the Giant Grey Cat out the door is cuz evertime she goes out, she literally gets into some dog’s @#$% and it costs us a trip to the vet to get rid of whatever was out there. That is such a problem here that I hope that it gets taken care of there.
wow, alan in kent wa, that STINKS that your cat fancies dog doo.
with that kind of history with it, yes, definitely a clean up. it’s also a hazard for basically anyone walking around and for young children who like to pick up things and put those things in their mouths.
ewwww!
We were out at an dog event where Loren’s was providing pickup service. One of our pooches decided to do her business. We started fishing around our stuff for poop bags (carry ’em everywhere when the kids are with us) and someone said, “Oh, don’t worry, they have guys picking that up.” We just couldn’t leave it, though… just didn’t feel right.
It only takes a couple dog owners not cleaning up after their pooches to mess things up for everyone.
hey aaron,
i agree – it always IS a few ‘poop-heads,’ so to speak, who can ruin it for everyone. and not with just dog doo, but other issues, too. littering. gum chewing in class. you name it….
also agree leaving dog waste behind feels wrong. esp. in a private yard. i was visiting a woman who used a dog doo service and she had poop festering all over the grass. ‘oh, let the service get it,’ but the service only came once a week. yuck.
i met loren at a past canine classic event. he seemed like a good fellow – in a business that ALWAYS has clients, recession or not.
I don’t know, Ryn. Wolfe goes out somewhere for the past five years and we never have seen where he poos. 15 acres of poo land out there somewhere. He’s probably really shy or recycles it like us.
hahhahah! 15 acres of poo land is a heck of a lot of poo land. loren could retire after servicing that area! hahahahah.
hope your dog does not recycle it by making it back into food – i do hope, rather, he uses the compost bin.
thanks for input.
Hi Rynski! I vote other. I clean up doggie doodles only if it presents a hazard to navigation, so to speak. Off the beaten path or out in the tullies? Who gives a…hoot?
doggie doodles! is that kind of like cheese doodles? hahahahhah.
I wonder if Loren realizes his slogan is federally trademarked by another scooping company, a national franchise?
What does “deal with appropriately” mean? All the HOA has to do is (1) require registration with a fee and (2) implement a “‘3 strikes and your dog’s out’ of this community.” I would add fines for the 1st and 2nd photographed violations – say $50 and $100.