For some reason, we as a society has just accepted the fact that dogs will shit and piss wherever, and on whomever’s lawn. So much so that many people have taken to ruining their beautiful gardens with signs asking owners to keep their dogs out, despite the fact that many dog owners don’t even bother to clean up their shit let alone keep their dogs off of other people’s property. This causes many people to think they’re a good owner simply for bagging their dog shit or removing it, never bothering to realize they’re still contaminating someone else’s lawn.
There’s been a growing trend in dog owners to bag their dog’s poo, then leave it somewhere to “come back later” and pick it up. However a lot of people don’t bother to come back to it at all, or “forget” where they left it. The bagged shit just piles up, more people leave shit behind where it doesn’t belong, and it just bakes in the sun.
A lot of these times, these shitbag surprises are left in parks or along sidewalks, where the rest of the community has to come across them and deal with them, but not always. We’ve had dog owners come onto our private property and leave their bagged shit on the bench in our garden, leaving us to deal with it. The nice bag shit was accompanied by a nice lovely unbagged fresh poop left on the ground in front of it, again, on our private property that is clearly private property. But as you can see from above, when one dog owner decides to be a jerk, a lot of others justify their jerk behavior.
And I know, a lot of dog owners thought process behind leaving their poopbags around is that they don’t want to carry poop their entire walk. Well, tough shit (pun intended), that’s part of owning a dog. If you don’t want to carry shit with you, train your dog to only shit in your own yard, then you wont have to worry about it.
Because even if you do clean up and take the poo with you, you’re still contaminating other people’s yards and public green space by allowing your dog to go wherever it wants. Even if you pick up the big turds, you’re still leaving the residue of it all over someone else’s property. One gram of dog shit can contain a host of gross things, including ringworm, hookworm, salmonella, and a bunch of other nasty things. You’re still leaving all that behind when you let your dog shit on other people’s lawns.
And it isn’t just poop that ruins greenspaces. Dog urine kills grass. It’s high in nitrogen and causes burns to plants, killing them.
If you don’t care that your lawn in ruined from your dog, that’s your choice. But your choice in pets shouldn’t destroy other people’s property or investments.
The simple solution to this is one dog owners seem increasingly resistant to, training their dog to only use their yard and not allowing it to go onto other people’s property. Recognize that you choosing to have a pet means taking responsibility for it and not inflicting it on others, including their bathroom habits.
No Dogs on Mars 