MWR violates Seattle's "passive neighbor" policy
"Thank you for your concern." I think that if you are seen walking away like that from a pile of excrement, showing no sign of returning, the only logical conclusion an observer can make is that you are fleeing the scene of the crime. (It may surprise you to know that I was once briefly responsible for walking two small dogs in an urban setting. When one of them finished, I cleaned up immediately . . . despite the apparently insuperable challenges involved.) I'm not sure what this guy expected, except not to be called on what he seemed to be doing. I have no reason to disbelieve what he told me, although I must say that while I really try to avoid stereotyping, if you showed me a photo of a guy in a black blazer walking a matched set of little brown dogs on Capitol Hill at 8 a.m., the caption "Not a Passive-Aggressive Narcissist" isn't the first that would leap to mind.
Of course, within a block I was treated to a nice view of some other dog's refuse. I do have a solution to the problem. It is a zero-tolerance dog-confiscation policy. If you are observed not cleaning up after your dog, you lose your dog and—this is important—you are never allowed to find out what happened to it. Maybe it was adopted, maybe it was euthanized, maybe it's living on a farm somewhere or toughening up at Vick's Home for Wayward Dogs. Whatever happened to it, you are done with that dog. And, of course, you would be banned from owning another dog for, say, five years.
You might assume this is just another one of my fanciful blog suggestions, but I would love to see this solution implemented. Society has a real interest in having clean sidewalks, medians and parks. As far as I can tell, there is no societal interest in allowing swine in human form to own dogs.
Labels: a modest proposal from MWR, pets
posted at 9:03 AM
3 Comments:
Okay, this dude thinks that because he has TWO dogs he can't clean up after them right away?
Ridiculous!
I have no trouble cleaning up immediately after my two LARGE dogs. There is a reason I keep baggies in a holder attached to their leashes. There is nothing more embarrassing for the responsible dog owner than being caught without a bag.
Just my two cents.
P.S. I would not have been nearly as polite as you were.
As a responsible dog owner, it TICKS ME OFF that some dog owners think they don't have to follow the rules. I am furious when I find some other dog's crap on our parking strip. If I can clean up after my 65 lb. dog, then he can certainly clean up after two little dogs. I think you did the right thing... his behavior won't change until someone takes him to task.
Now, your proposed solution is a *tad* bit harsh (albeit funny... Vick's Home for Wayward Dogs?) but then I would expect nothing less from MWR! ;)
If by "harsh" you mean "punitive", I agree. My sense is that only strong measures will get the attention of completely awful people involved, but that if they care about one thing besides themselves, it is their dogs. As far as I'm concerned, these people don't deserve to have a dog, and what happens to their dogs should be no different from what happens to any other dog that has no fit home. Whether a particular dog meets an uncertain fate is entirely up to its owner.
And it's not that harsh, because a first offender gets a "clean license" after five years.
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