DNA poo testing

[Mad Murphy]

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I just saw a story about an ex -mayor in Sussex wanting to DNA test dog poo to match it to the dog and thereby be able to issue fines to fouling owners.

Lots of people thinking its a great idea but, have they any idea what it would cost?
Thinking about resources and how stretched local councils are (care budgets are constantly cut) in Amsterdam the idea was seriously considered but to do this would have cost an estimated €350,000 per year and then there was the privacy issues surrounding getting samples of a dogs DNA in the first place.

Testing the poo would be easy but who would test the dogs? Vets said it would break their customer (patient ) confidentiality and council officials did not have the right to DNA a persons dog without due reason.

Although the idea is re-hashed every year especially at this time when spring is coming and more people start to walk in the parks and of course notice the piles of poo that owners have failed to pick up.
So whats the answer?
I dont know.. maybe just making it the next totally antisocial thing like smoking or drink driving. Maybe a big TV campaign about how real dog lovers pick up and the danger of dog poo and the disease it can spread.
Or what about lighting powered by dog poo? Would it help or are some people just beyond reach?

From stools to fuels: the street lamp that runs on dog do

 

[Josie]

I don't know how that idea would ever work - also it wouldn't be very cost effective!

I think they should have some volunteers who 'patrol' certain dog walking hot spots and then can have the authority to hand out fines. I think people would soon get the message if they knew they would actually be reprimanded for their actions.

 

[arealhuman]

Dog Warden patrols. The amount of dog s*** around here has to be seen to be believed. I can't believe so many people don't pick up after their dogs and there are plenty of my rants about it on this very forum! Went out earlier today, and the footpath in the road next to mine is like a poo slalom, you literally have to weave between the s*** and it makes me so angry. It also embarrasses me because as dog owners, we all get tarred with the same brush.

About DNA testing - if the (stazi) government wanted it brought in, they would. Legitimate privacy concerns would be readily ignored. Don't forget, they would look to pass the cost on to us too, although if the cost mentioned above is accurate, think how many Dog Warden patrols that could pay for.

 

[leashedForLife]

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actually, DNA-profiling only needs to be done once, & if the whole dog-popn is profiled, fines more than cover the cost of the program.

Some years ago, i tried to convince the manager of our apt-complex in Va Beach to do this, but instead she put a notice in the complex newsletter, urging tenants to inform on dog-owning tenants who didn't pick up after their pet.
Needless to say, neighbors with an ax to grind made plenty of groundless complaints, hoping that the upstairs neighbor with the dog who whined or barked when home-alone would be evicted, & plenty of folks who were flagrant repeat offenders were never reported at all.

At the time, DNA-profiling & registering the profile cost $40 per dog - & i'm sure that with nearly 400 apts & 3/4 of the tenants owning dogs, we could have negotiated a wholesale rate for all the tenants.
The oral swab samples are easy to take, painless & quick, & could have been done in the property office, or even poolside on a nice day, by the owner - under the oversight of the manager, or any of the office staff, to ensure that each pet was done, & that none were sampled twice.

once all the resident dogs had been sampled, legally in the U-S, the owner or manager of any private property can match their city's fine for "failing to pick up pet waste" - in Va Bch, that was $150 for a 1st offense, & more for subsequent offenses. // NO ONE would leave dog-poop lying about more than once in a twelvemonth, if it cost them $150 & could not be appealed, as the evidence would be conclusive.

Profiling is easy; every new tenant's dog would be sampled when they signed their lease; the $40 would be a one-time fee, paid by the tenant. If they got a new dog, that dog would be sampled when they renewed their lease. // Current tenants could be profiled now, for free, or their dogs could be sampled as their leases came up for renewal, for $40; that would encourage enrollment. Merely knowing that any orphan stools can be tested & attributed is a great deterrent. :thumbsup:

One fine would cover the cost of sampling many orphan stools, esp'ly at a wholesale rate [$40 was the retail fee to DNA-profile a single dog, ATT]. // U only need to send a tiny sample of any one stool to identify the source, & U could hold off on shipping until U had 6 to 10 samples, to reduce costs. Sending a notice of the fine to be added to the rent check via 'Return Receipt Requested' certified mail would prove that the tenant received it, & if they failed to pay the fine within 60-days, U could start adding interest. :shrug:
Or when U sent the initial certified mail, U could warn the tenant that if the fine was unpaid for 90-days, an eviction notice would result.

I thought it was cost-effective, simple, & would greatly reduce the number of dog-stools littering the property. Having the maintenance men patrol for dog-poop would mean extra work at first, but a much cleaner property would result, & the number of stools to be picked-up, sampled, & properly discarded should fall very quickly, as ppl got burned by the fine & "cleaned up their acts".
But that manager, & the 2 who succeeded her, couldn't be arsed. So we spent a lot of time walking around dog-poop, or seeing it everywhere in the shrubbery & flower-beds. Yuk.

- terry

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[JudyN]

I would be concerned about the poo-testing procedure. What if my dog weed right next to another dog's poo, could the poo pick up some of Jasper's DNA? What if I scraped up all I could of a korma-style poo and another dog then pooed right next to it? What if Jasper did his usual post-poo scratting and I miss one bit that ended up 6' away? Or what if it was in long grass and I missed a bit?

I'm sure these could be overcome in some way but sadly, I don't trust the government to ensure that it is implemented in such a way that only the guilty will end up being fined.

 

[Violet Turner]

I would be concerned about the poo-testing procedure. What if my dog weed right next to another dog's poo, could the poo pick up some of Jasper's DNA? What if I scraped up all I could of a korma-style poo and another dog then pooed right next to it? What if Jasper did his usual post-poo scratting and I miss one bit that ended up 6' away? Or what if it was in long grass and I missed a bit?

I'm sure these could be overcome in some way but sadly, I don't trust the government to ensure that it is implemented in such a way that only the guilty will end up being fined.

Same with you @JudyN