Back again, Blogging Every Day In May.
Day 22, Wednesday: Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbour or boss does that really ticks you off)
Warning: If you're a bit squeamish, it's probably best that you don't read this post!
On to business. There are a few things that get me angry, like bad drivers, bad parents, bad teachers, bad children (can you see a pattern here?). But since getting a dog, the one thing that gets up my nose - bad dog owners. I don't understand why anyone would get a dog, but then not take responsibility for it. My main gripe with dog owners, are the ones who think it's ok for their dog to do their toilets and then just leave it there for anyone to stand in.
I live near the beach, and I take my dog, Lily, for a long walk down there every lunch time. It's great because we're far enough away from the road for her to run around off her lead. She loves being able to zoom off in all directions, exploring. And of course, I have to zoom off after her to make sure she doesn't get up to any mischief. On many occasions I've been having fun, playing with my dog, only to find when I get home, that the soles of my shoes are all stinky.
A few years ago I wrote an article for a local paper about the amount of dog poo all over the place. On one walk with Lily, I took pictures of a number of poos, many of which were situated within walking distance of a public bin.
There is absolutely no excuse for it. When I take Lily out, I make sure I have a pocket full of nappy bags. I buy them from the supermarket for something like 12p for 100 bags. It doesn't break the bank. Considering that when you get a dog, you have to pay a fortune for dog food, treats, toys, vet visits, surely 12p for a pack of poo bags shouldn't be too much of a problem, right?!
Often, I would see poo put into poo bags, but the poo bags would just be left on the beach. This then got me thinking about the number of public bins around the village. Again, on the same walk where I took the poo pictures, I took a picture of every bin that we passed.
I hadn't counted before, but on a journey of about a mile, there are 15 bins. Why, oh why, do people throw full bags of poo onto the ground, rather than putting them in a bin? And if they can't find a bin while out on their walk, surely they have a bin at home?
The council put up signs asking people to pick up their dog's poo. I don't see why the council had to waste money on producing those signs, because any reasonable human being would clear up their mess so that no-one else falls over in it, or stands in it.
I get so angry that people need to be told to do something that they should automatically do. I pretty much stand behind Lily, bag in hand, every time she crouches, so I can make sure I pick up everything and then throw it away. When I first got Lily, the idea of poop-a-scooping made me feel a bit sick, and I would always cover the offending item in kitchen paper before picking it up with a bag. Now it's second nature to me. I doesn't bother me, as I know it's my job as a pet parent to clean up after my animal.
Why do people have to be so selfish? How would they feel if they ruined a pair of shoes because someone else couldn't be bothered to pick up their dog's poo? Sometimes I can't even find the words to express how angry this makes me. Mainly because I don't understand why people leave such a mess everywhere. Not only is it common sense to clear up, it's also polite, civil, kind, and a bunch of other 'nice' words. But then I guess you can't be a very nice person if you think it's ok to leave such a horrible mess all over the place.
This is the article I wrote. I don't know if you'll be able to read it, but it's full of my anger and disgust at the immoral behaviour of many dog walkers/owners.
And every time I see a little doggy pile on my travels, I can't help but sing this song in my head!
Ok, rant over!
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Agreed so much! It's disgusting. I have to big dogs so, of course, they have big poos. No, I don't enjoy picking up my dog's shit, but, like you said, it's all part of being a dog owner! On a lighter (well not really) I spent quite some time scooping poop in my yard after a long winter and a very large collection of very large terds hidden under the snow!
ReplyDeleteExactly. I can't say that I enjoy cleaning up after my dog, but it just has to be done. Sounds like you had *fun* clearing your yard!!
DeleteOh my gosh. I can't believe you posted pictures! Hahaha...good for you for bringing this to the publics attention.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, sorry about the pictures! But I hate hate hate people who leave the mess everywhere!!
DeleteI don't have any dogs but always find dog poo in my yard. It annoys me to no end. No end I tell ya.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, that's so rude! I can't believe someone would let their dog poo in someone else's yard and then not clear it up. Perhaps you should install CCTV!!
DeleteI so agree. You know what's just as bad? Cat poo, but the owners aren't around to pick it up out of our back yard. Ick, ick, ick.
ReplyDeleteEewwww, icky :/
DeleteVery nice gripe post. I have to admit, I've been a bad dog owner on a couple of occasions, but always when I'd forgotten to get a bag and there wasn't one around, or if the poo was just too ... you know... watery. But other than those few times, I did do the poop gig, and it's not a big deal. I truly don't understand either why so many people don't do it, especially since more and more places are not only putting out trash bins but bags as well.
ReplyDeleteP.S. - I've nominated you for some blog awards, and hope you will check it out and post acceptances. It's located at:
http://nancylarondajohnson.blogspot.com/2013/05/i-proudly-accept-these-awards.html
Thank you for the awards :D They are very greatly appreciated. I will accept and get on with them over the weekend :)
DeleteThe council put out poop-a-scoop bags, but some idiot(s) decided to take all the bags out and fill them with stones, and leave them around the beach!
GO YOU! This is something that's totally rant worthy. Not picky up poo is simply crappy. Crappy, crappy dog owner.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, they stink.
Hahahah thank you. They are indeedy crappy dog owners!
DeletePicking up poop is one of the joys of having a dog. As far as I'm concerned it's just as important as making sure our Tara is fed, watered, vaccinated and has her flea treatment.
ReplyDeleteLike you, unscooped poop really annoys me. Some of the beaches here only have one or two bins so you can end up with it being left on the beach because people can't be bothered to walk to the bin.
The path up to my work is one of the worst places in town too. There are a lot of dirty dog owners along that street.
Sometimes I think we should go back to paying some sort of dog licence so that things like picking up dog's mess and dangerous dogs could be better enforced.
I agree. Sometimes I feel like collecting the poo, getting it DNA tested, and then hunting down the dog owner!!
DeleteWe live in a suburban neighborhood with shared property and have a governing housing board whose primary job (amoung other things) is to collect money from the residents and use it to pay for the maintenance of the common ground. Needless to say, keeping the common group poo-free for the many, many dog owners in the neighborhood (us included) is one of the biggest struggles they face. There are signs posted all over the neighborhood which clearly state the absurdly large amount one would have to pay as a fine for not cleaning up after their pet and I still walk by dog poop at minimum once a week. So yeah, right there with you.
ReplyDeleteIt's disgusting, and I have no idea why people leave it around. I mean, how would they like it if they ruined a pair of shoes. Grr!
DeleteaMEN, madam! Amen! And I love that you can take such an earthy subject and nail it to the wall with equal parts passion and eloquence! (Speaking of nailing it to the wall, do you guys get news stories over there about somebody being arrested for smearing dog poop all over their neighbor's front door / car / etc., because they were sick of them not cleaning up? Seems like we get them every other week.)
ReplyDeleteI do see a ton of it when we go visit the in-laws in Scotland, though - right on the sidewalks and everything. It's an immense problem, and so unnecessary!
(P.S.: Thanks for the blog shout-out this week - great picks all around!)
Ha! Thank you. I didn't hear that news story. I would have arrested the person who had left the poop on the ground, and made them clear all the poop up.
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