Dog sh-t

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martyn94
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Dog sh-t

Post by martyn94 »

Midi Libre gave me a link to this story in the Guardian that I missed when first published
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/ ... ontpellier

I don't know about Montpellier, but it certainly jibes with my experience here. Dog owners in Paris seem to be a bit more civique than they were a few years ago, but round here nobody seems to give a shit - or rather they persist in giving us far too much, despite exhortation and free bags from the mairie.

I am maybe hyper-sensitive because I live on a pedestrian "rampe", where any pile of droppings is both extremely visible (leaving aside the other senses) but also almost certain to be stepped in sooner or later. What are people thinking when they stop and watch their mutt doing that? On the odd occasion when you see them in flagrante, they seem quite proud (isn't my Fifi clever to know how to take a dump?).

I'm sure that everyone on the forum is beyond reproach. But am I just being grumpy again, or is it unusually bad round here? And what exactly do you do or say when you see someone walking away from their dog's mess?
Allan
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Post by Allan »

It wasn't so long ago that Britain was as bad as France, as a kid I was constantly treading in dog mess when out to play.

I think it was a mixture of publicity, legal enforcement and above all, peer pressure that changed things in Britain. Hopefully the same will happen in France, but so far there is not much sign of it.

In my village there are no open spaces so inevitably the dogs perform wherever they like, at least the Mairie hoses down the square each morning.

Whenever I see someone walking away leaving a pile on the pavement, I always ask if they are going to leave it there? The normal response is either a grunt or 'I don't have a bag'.

I have quite strong feelings that pet owners should be responsible for their pets and not assume that others are happy to put up with them.

A while ago there was a thread on here where someone expressed annoyance that people can keep cats and everyone else has to put up with their mess and the damage they cause. I remember that another poster reacted with outrage because seemingly in law cats are free to roam. Just because the law says it is OK doesn't change the lack of consideration.

By the way, I am not easily offended by profanity but I thought the thread title could do with a bit more thought.
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

Allan wrote:
By the way, I am not easily offended by profanity but I thought the thread title could do with a bit more thought.
I did think a bit, as it happens. I don't think it's profanity when used literally, at least in my understanding of the word. It's certainly "vulgar" as lexicographers say. But dog turds are a bit vulgar, especially when they are piled up outside your front door. The alternatives are either euphemistic ("mess", "dirt") or just say the same thing, but in Latin rather than German. Not an easy choice: I'll reflect a bit longer next time, if there is one.
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Dog sh*t

Post by scotty210 »

I don't think I will ever get used to, or accept, the daily dog fouling (uncollected) which occurs on the streets of our town. We live near the town centre and the amount of dog mess I regularly see when out walking my own dog is staggering. I am a responsible dog owner who always carries bags at all times, which is of course a very easy thing to do, particularly as the Mairie provide poop bins/ free bag dispensers in various parts of the town. I simply cannot understand French dog owners who just nonchalantly walk away after seeing their dog depositing a fresh pile on a pedestrian pavement. A big problem in our town, however, (and I'm sure it is the same in most other villages/towns around here) is the amount of dogs which are allowed to roam free around the streets, their owners having put them out of the house in the morning, and then not bothering to look for them again until a good few hours later. The results are only too obvious for all to see on the streets and pavements.
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Post by russell »

Beziers has recently introduced a scheme where all dogs in the city are to be DNA tested and registered. Any dechets canines found on the streets are to be DNA tested and the owner will be fined €450.

Russell.
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Post by opas »

I have just driven through Thuir to a clients house. On the main road where the new health centre/ pharmacy is, a lady was stood watching her pooch drop a pile, step round the mess and bis a lady...both chatting happily and smiling at the adored dog, amazing!.
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martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

opas wrote: amazing!.
If only it were. Much as I generally like French people and culture, there is endless evidence in everyday experience that "fraternité" in everyday life extends only to the circle of people you give a bise to. Everyone else can just tread in the dog dirt.

Theres's also some more scientific evidence that the French are unusually individualistic.
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Post by martyn94 »

russell wrote:Beziers has recently introduced a scheme where all dogs in the city are to be DNA tested and registered. Any dechets canines found on the streets are to be DNA tested and the owner will be fined €450.

Russell.
And the police municipale have to collect the evidence. It must be an odd life for them: first M Ménard gives them all a shiny new gun, then he makes them pick up dog dirt. Taken with all his other stunts, he seems to be a bit of a loose cannon.
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Post by scotty210 »

Point taken about the Police Municipale of Beziers undoubtedly finding their new task unappealing to say the least, but I can only think that if this scheme is properly enforced, it will be a good thing for Beziers residents and visitors alike.

If it was to prove successful, it would be great to see it used in many more cities, towns and villages.

Any scheme that would help rid the streets/pavements of dog mess definitely gets a thumbs-up from me.
martyn94
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Re: Dog sh*t

Post by martyn94 »

scotty210 wrote:Point taken about the Police Municipale of Beziers undoubtedly finding their new task unappealing to say the least, but I can only think that if this scheme is properly enforced, it will be a good thing for Beziers residents and visitors alike.

If it was to prove successful, it would be great to see it used in many more cities, towns and villages.

Any scheme that would help rid the streets/pavements of dog mess definitely gets a thumbs-up from me.
And so say all of us. But it seems to me like one of those very Cartesian (and so very French) schemes which seem doomed to a defeatist Anglo-Saxon like me.

Fuller details are here
http://www.midilibre.fr/2016/04/22/bezi ... 321469.php

It all fits together, in a way. All you need is a police municipale with nothing else to do, and ready to make themselves suicidally unpopular. Apart from the strays, and those belonging to "punks à chien", who weren't rare in downtown Béziers last time I was there.
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Post by scotty210 »

Having just this evening fallen victim to a dog pile deposited on a pavement (partially hidden by leaves), has anyone heard if the Beziers scheme has had any success at all?
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Post by Gus Morris »

I don’t know what has happened in Beziers. But I suspect little or no progress.

France has the highest proportion of dog owners in Europe. The domestic cat population has doubled in the last two decades. Opinion on the whole domestic animal subject is highly polarised. The animal rights brigade will resist any moves to address problems caused by domestic animals, even when feral, which involves culling. Papers like the L’Independant highlight any reports of animal cruelty. Real or imagined.

On the other hand the media gives extensive cover to bullfighting. Including the Feria at Beziers. La Chasse is venerated and the large numbers of lost hunting dogs roaming the countryside are accepted as inevitable. The ecologists have been giving warnings for some time about the negative effect of domestic cats on the environment. But are largely ignored.

Banning dogs from popular beaches in summer seems to be having an effect. But, inevitably, there are those that ignore the signs. By the way, notices saying “C’est un trottoir, pas un crottoir” have little impact as dogs can’t read.


The only thing that will help focus minds on the dog problem is an outbreak of rabies or something similar.

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martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

Gus Morris wrote:
The only thing that will help focus minds on the dog problem is an outbreak of rabies or something similar.

Gus
The "dog problem"? I can see that there is an "owner problem" and perhaps we should indeed cull them,, but even that can be worked on, over time. Similarly with feral cats: it's heaving with them round here, and I can see that in theory it's a "bad thing", but in practice I get the pleasure of lots of pretty cats without even needing to look at Facebook. I felt a bit guilty about them when I first moved here, until I found that all my other neighbours feed them copiously.
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Post by Kate »

scotty210
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Dog sh*t

Post by scotty210 »

Thank you Kate.
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

It amused me, in a slightly back-handed way, because I have just had one of my security-glass patio doors broken in, in a very violent way - sufficiently violent that one of the voyous cut his hand on the glass, and left a trace of blood on the door-frame. (Meanwhile I was standing there at 0500, on the inside, watching them do it: the fact that I was bollock-naked was evidently enough to scare them off in the end).

The gendarmes seemed genuinely interested in taking a sample for DNA testing (on the basis that the bad guy was probably a recidivist, so they would probably get a match). In parting, they said that the results would probably come back "within a few months".

I don't especially complain about that: their labs must have many higher priorities than me. But it's droll that all the mutts in Bezier are going to be DNA-tested, along with all their misplaced poop, just to detect a few minor incivilities.

Assuming it works: it seems a bit too clever by half to me.
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Post by Allan »

martyn94 wrote:
It amused me, in a slightly back-handed way, because I have just had one of my security-glass patio doors broken in, in a very violent way - sufficiently violent that one of the voyous cut his hand on the glass, and left a trace of blood on the door-frame. (Meanwhile I was standing there at 0500, on the inside, watching them do it: the fact that I was bollock-naked was evidently enough to scare them off in the end).

The gendarmes seemed genuinely interested in taking a sample for DNA testing (on the basis that the bad guy was probably a recidivist, so they would probably get a match). In parting, they said that the results would probably come back "within a few months".

I don't especially complain about that: their labs must have many higher priorities than me. But it's droll that all the mutts in Bezier are going to be DNA-tested, along with all their misplaced poop, just to detect a few minor incivilities.

Assuming it works: it seems a bit too clever by half to me.
Perhaps the knowledge that an offending dog could be identified might discourage some owners.

The idea has been tried elsewhere, I believe the first in the UK was the London borough of Barking, clearly someone has a sense of humour.
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

Allan wrote:
Perhaps the knowledge that an offending dog could be identified might discourage some owners.

The idea has been tried elsewhere, I believe the first in the UK was the London borough of Barking, clearly someone has a sense of humour.
But your dog's mess is only going to be identified if you have previously volunteered to have your dog's DNA entered into the database of local dogs. You are only going to get people on the database, spontaneously, who are also committed, as good citizens, to cleaning up after their dogs. So you will not get many hits.

You could, I guess, apply very strenuous means to pick up "unregistered" dog-walkers. (All the dinky little animals that come out at this season for half an hour a day with a little cosy on). But I don't think that even M Ménard will prosper for long by waging war on the bourgeoisie.
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