Poop bags and good neighbors
Little signs can communicate big messages
It takes a lot to get me riled up, so I was surprised by my recent strong reaction to a sign in a neighbor’s lawn. No, it wasn’t a political placard or the flag of a rival football team; it was a tiny sign poked into the edge of the person’s yard featuring a picture of a urinating dog surrounded by a red circle with a line across it and the words “No peeing. Be respectful.”
No peeing? Really? I stopped and did a double take while my chocolate labradoodle Tango sniffed the sign suspiciously. It was as if even Tango felt this was an unreasonable request.
As a pet owner, I consider it my responsibility to clean up after my dog. I carry poop bags with me at all times and I am judicious about picking up Tango’s excrement. On the few occasions that Tango does his business (my mom’s term for a bowel movement) on someone’s lawn and I’ve accidentally left the house without a poop bag – God forbid! – I have actually gone back later or even the next day to retrieve the hardened deposit. I understand that no one wants dog feces on their lawn and I want to be a good neighbor. Picking up after one’s dog seems respectful — and realistic.
But no dog peeing? That just seemed hostile, as if the neighbor was broadcasting that they hate dogs and want everyone to stay far, far away from their property.
So I did stay away. I found this sign so annoying that I began to avoid that particular block when Tango and I set out for our morning walks. But sometimes in the wee hours, I’d forget and turn onto our favorite route and there was the sign. And each time I spotted it, I’d have the same negative reaction.
After years of therapy, I consider myself at least somewhat self-aware, so I considered the possibility I might be overreacting. As such, I conducted two focus groups, which meant I asked both my husband and my BFF Nicole what they thought of the “No Peeing” sign.
Hubby could not believe it. A man of few words, he uncharacteristically let loose and suggested we take Tango right then and there and intentionally have him pee right on the sign. There may have been some profanity in the phrasing, as is his way. Nicole was indignant and said it actually made her want to fly in from New York City, “drop trou and pee on the neighbor’s lawn” herself. I do not foresee either recommendation happening, but their concurrence with my reaction was validating.
In my home state, we talk a lot about “Iowa Nice,” and about neighborliness. This sign represented the opposite to me. So I started thinking about dog courtesy and what it means to be a good citizen – someone who thinks about the good of others versus just one’s own self interest.
It turns out that picking up after one’s pet has riled people up for quite a long time. I was surprised to find poop scooping is a relatively recent practice and that it was highly controversial when introduced.
For most of modern U.S. history, both companion dogs and strays ran loose in cities, small towns and certainly in the country, according to a Bloomberg news article titled “A brief history of cities’ campaigns to clear the streets of dog poop.” That caused problems, especially in metropolitan areas. Not only did stray dogs carry diseases, but pet excrement contributed to the messes created by horses, mud and trash. After cars began to replace horses and the larger piles of manure disappeared, dog feces was more obvious in the streets and sidewalks.
In the 1920s and 1930s doctors and other concerned citizens in large cities like London and Paris began to recognize dog excrement as a serious medical problem as well as an issue of urban unsightliness and pedestrian risk. During this period, laws regulating dog control or targeting dog excrement began to emerge. Around 1935, signs saying “Curb Your Dog” began appearing in New York City.
“Curb Your Dog'' was code for “Pick up your dog’s poop.” To make compliance easier, a scooping tool was a logical invention. Wikipedia variously gives credit for a device designed to shovel dog feces to Sam Corwitz of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, who in 1957 created a device called the Scoo-Pup, and to Brooke Miller of Anaheim, California, who patented a metal bin-rake attached to a wooden stick. Regardless of who actually created the product, the phrases pooper-scooper and poop-scoop entered the American vernacular.
By the 1970s, public health concerns increased, as dog feces was proven to be a carrier of Escherichia coli (E.Coli), and also toxocara canis, a roundworm parasite. City sidewalks were filled with dog poop and citizens were weary of circumventing the droppings. According to the New York Times, the Village of Great Neck Estates, New York, was one of the first municipalities to enact an ordinance requiring residents to pick up dog excrement. This and other similar ordinances were introduced in New York and were met with immediate and vehement opposition.
New York State Public Health Law 1310, originally known as the Canine Waste Law, was quickly dubbed the “Poop Scoop Law.” The issue quickly turned political. Some felt that the government was trying to take their dogs away. Humane organizations like the ASPCA opposed the law believing it would deter dog ownership. Others believed it would lead to dog bans. Debates over how to pick up poop correctly, as well as possible punishments for not doing so, filled the headlines. People divided into pro-dog and anti-dog camps. Politicians used the issue as a wedge.
In 1977, Ed Koch, who was then mayor-elect, took the law to the state government level. An American Kennel Club history called “We Scoop to Conquer “ says of the New York Poop Scoop Law: “It took years of political, legal, and cultural turmoil, but in August 1978, the law went into effect and became a prototype for similar legislation all over the world.”
According to NYC Parks press releases, Koch was later quoted saying, "If you’ve ever stepped in dog doo, you know how important it is to enforce the canine waste law. New Yorkers overwhelmingly do their duty and self-enforce. Those who don’t are not fit to call friend."
The law was difficult to enforce and New Yorkers were not keen to comply. The controversy raged on about who was responsible and when and where to deposit poop. Various other cities passed similar laws and had similar opposition. Americans apparently don’t like poop on their sidewalks and yards, but don’t like to be told what to do.
But over time, curbing one’s dog has become accepted practice. Peer pressure plays a role. A flood of pet products also cropped up to make it easier to pick up poop, which deterred many folks in the early days of the poop scoop laws. The American Kennel Club article reports that inventors had been patenting dog-refuse disposal units since at least the 1960s, from foldable cardboard boxes and stick-mounted metal containers with attached rakes to plastic bags designed expressly for picking up poop.
Today, approximately 500 million plastic poop bags are used each year across the globe, according to Bioplastics News. While plastic poop bags made it easier to pick up excrement, banning single-use plastic bags became more and more common due to their damaging effects on the environment. As a result, biodegradable poop bags are now widely marketed.
Picking up poop is more important than ever, because dog ownership has steadily increased over the last few decades. Americans own over 83 million pet dogs which produce approximately 10.6 million tons of poop annually, according to a Live Science article called The Poop Problem: What To Do With 10 Million Tons of Dog Waste.
While some cities do have poop laws, others do not. My own small town of Huxley, Iowa, requires pet registration and has a leash law, but doesn’t have any ordinance about picking up pet waste. Nonetheless, there are ample trash cans in all parks, and in some neighborhoods there are little stands that dispense free poop bags.
Neighboring small town Polk City, however, does have pet waste laws. An ordinance posted on their website states, “It is the duty of every person owning or having custody or control of an animal to clean up, move or dispose of the feces deposited by such an animal upon public property, park property, public right-of-way or the property of another person.”
Larger Iowa cities like Cedar Rapid and Des Moines also require the removal of animal waste. In the case of Des Moines, Ordinance No. 13,614, section a states: No owner, possessor, or person in charge of a dog, cat, horse or other animal shall fail to cleanup or remove immediately any excrement or droppings deposited by such dog, cat, horse or other animal on any public or private property not owned or in control of that owner, possessor or person in charge of such dog, cat, horse or other animal. (Fun fact: Section b does exempt police officers “when using a horse for police purposes provided the police arrange for cleanup of the horse manure at the conclusion of the tour of duty involving the horse.”)
But regardless of whether a law exists or picking up after one’s pet is just a common courtesy, municipalities in Iowa and elsewhere are still trying to get citizens to clean up dog poop. In March of 2021, as the snows were melting and revealing minefields of frozen poop, Davenport Public Works officials reminded dog owners to pick up after their pets in a Facebook post. The post called dog waste a “serious problem because dog poop contains parasites, viruses, and bacteria that are not destroyed by decomposition or the cold.“ It went on to say, “Pet waste that is not properly disposed of in the garbage can contribute to illness in pets and humans, degrade local water quality, and ruin a pair of shoes.”
So the quest to get people to pick up after their dog continues as a conversation of health, sanitation and good citizenship. A post on Hillspet.com says, “It’s not hard to see that picking up after your dog not only makes you a responsible dog owner, but also a considerate neighbor. It's simply the right thing to do.”
I don’t need convincing to pick up dog poop. I’m sold. But “No peeing?” That one stopped me in my tracks. I want to be a good neighbor and I’m happy to obey rules or conventions that make our community peaceful, pleasant, safe and clean. So why did that sign strike me as so antagonistic? To me, it veered off the request to do one’s civic duty to keep the sidewalk clear and intimated the owner’s needs were more important than fellow neighbors who enjoy walking our dogs as part of living in our small town. It appeared self-centered, not community-minded.
But the sign did command me to “Be respectful.” Even without the word please on that directive, I’m choosing to comply. After a little soul searching, I told myself maybe that family has needs and priorities we don’t know or understand. I am trying to give that neighbor the benefit of the doubt and so I’m being respectful of the neighbor’s wishes. Tango and I will continue to steer clear of that block.
Nonetheless, this incident reminded me that when we put signs in our yards or on our porches, we send messages about inviting our neighbors in or pushing them away. It’s the same for other signals. I’m hoping that most of us would greet a passing dog with a pat on the head, or wave at the school kids as we walk down the sidewalk, or contribute a book to one of the many Little Library stands that dot our streets – indications that we are hospitable citizens. There are a lot of “right things” to do as a neighbor; being gracious and friendly are among them.
When Tango and I walk through town these days, we take particular note of the signs – the big ones and the little ones. And we smile a bit more at the houses with the placards and wreaths that say “Welcome.”
Perhaps your neighbor has identified a habitual offender but is not comfortable confronting them directly.
I appreciated the history of the city and state laws on this matter. I walk about 16 miles a week in my neighborhood in Des Moines. I carry plastic bags with me, picking up trash in the street and on the curb as I walk. I pick up two bags of dog poop per week, on average, that people leave in the street or on the curb, and place them in my barrel when I return home. I am puzzled by those who bag the poop, but then leave it.