Clues From Poo!
By Amy Fernandez
For most Canine Chronicle readers, cleaning up after dogs ranks among those ubiquitous chores, so common and frequent that it doesn’t merit comment. We simply get on with it.
If you’re faced with an unanticipated accident in public, the protocol goes without saying. It’s courteous, usually legally required, and we understand that it comes with the responsibility of dog ownership.
In case you haven’t noticed, the general dog owning public can be somewhat less contentious about this little job. Owners get threatened, fined, and when that doesn’t work dogs are banned from one more park, beach, hotel, or rental space.
From the perspective of exhibitors it’s especially frustrating when offenders in our midst cause us to lose access to show grounds and dog friendly hotels.
Take heart, science has provided a new weapon in the perpetual “curb your dog” wars.
One Brooklyn Bridge Park, one of those super deluxe Brooklyn Heights waterfront condos making the borough a parody of urban life has resorted to DNA profiling to get this problem under control. What??? DNA analysis has countless potential uses, and yes, four years ago the Tennessee-based company ‘Poo Prints’ began offering this rather specialized service.
Reportedly over 1000 apartment buildings around the country now use it. Owners must submit a DNA sample for each dog in their residence. This building is charging a $35 mandatory fee for that. The rest of the program is self-explanatory. Once they are identified, culprits receive a $250 fine and unpleasant notoriety among their neighbors.
That’s understandable when you are coughing up 2.5 mil for a modest two-bedroom home-space. And pricy, prime real estate is not the only notable feature of this one. Its 440 units currently house approximately 175 dogs making it one of the increasingly scarce multiple residences in NYC that welcomes pets.
Moreover, this one prides itself in a tolerant attitude towards pets. Acknowledging that dogs can and do have accidents on their way out the door, an official protocol was implemented.
- The owner does their best to clean up the unanticipated mess.
- Then notifies maintenance for a more thorough job.
Sounds good except that a goodly contingent of residents seemed to be forgetting steps one and two, instead opting for canine mayhem to reign in stairwells, hallways, lobbies, and let’s not even discuss the perimeter of the building.
The problem became so bad last winter that the extra cleaning fees were adding insult to injury. Needless to say, anyone shaking the piggybank to live here expects a pristine environment. Regrettably, an unrealistic sense of privileged entitlement also commonly accompanies that lifestyle. That attitude doesn’t foster the inclination to follow rules or clean up after yourself (or your pets).
After repeated requests and warnings were ignored, the building’s board resorted to the drastic measure of enlisting the forensic DNA testing service Poo Prints. As expected, the announcement met with protests galore, generally focusing on cost or privacy issues. Neither one qualified as the basis for legitimate objections. The deal was done and it’s working.
Obviously, the effectiveness of this sort of remedy is limited to small, controlled situations. Even so, it’s satisfying to know that some of these dog-owning scofflaws have faced overdue retribution.
Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=85548
Posted by chesliepickett
on Aug 17 2015. Filed under Current Articles, Featured.
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