Whatever happened to white dog poo?
It may sound puerile but this really is a question we've been asking ourselves in GW Towers over the past week. We're sure anyone over the age of about 25 can probably remember the sight of white dog poo on the grass verge. The reason it disappeared is, we think, rather obvious. There was a blitz against dog poo by local authorities up and down the country and a cultural push to make dog owner clear up after their pooches.Why, you may be asking, are we talking about dog poo? Well, it seems that white dog poo may be heading for a come back in Greenwich this year. Last week's Council meeting threw up the little known fact that there is actually nothing the Council can do to tackle those who let their dog relieve itself on the footpath or our (limited) open spaces.
There was it seems a local Bye Law that allowed for prosecution but it expired last year. Our readers will be glad to hear that the Bye Law - when it did exist - was so effective it secured the prosecution of a grand total of zero offenders. Apparently this was because there were rarely any witnesses to the act itself - which is understandable as, let's be honest, you'd have to be pretty strange to want to watch a dog empty its bowels.
Never fear though, for whilst all dog owners can currently allow their four legged friends to defecate all over the Borough with impudence, the Council is looking at "options" available to it which will include a "strategy" for solving the problem. The Council expects to "allow authorised officers to issue on the spot fines to offenders" and it will be a "co-ordinated response".
In a similar vein to the "Anti-smoking Inspectors" that will be patrolling our pubs from the summer (more on that later), we are it seems about to get Dog Shit Inspectors with the power to issue fines to people that probably won't pay them anyway. This does of course assume the inspectors witness the dog doing it, perhaps they will have video cameras too? (this is getting a little too scatological don't you think? -ed)
posted by greenwich.watch at 8:22 am
11 Comments:
A little research will tell you that the reason we don't see white dog dirt on our streets nowadays is because of the change in dog food additives.
A certain protein in the diet of man's best friend, was removed some time in the early 90s.
Well there you go, we learnt something. Doesn't change the point about the prospect of ever more poo across the Borough because it's not illegal to allow your dog to defecate anyway.
Also you could've at least been funny and chosen a name like "Dog Poo Expert" instead of being anonymous.
White dog poo = bones in the diet.
I own a dog and I always pick up after it. However, to do that every time every day for evermore, you have to be organised enough to go out equipped with bags. It irritates me, too, when people don't manage this - even people who should know better (like animal sanctuary workers) - and I have been physically threatened by someone walking two fighting dogs whom I asked to pick up after their dog. Greenwich Council does issue free, bio-degradable, dog poo bags but it is not easy to find out where to get them.
Am doing my bit: the Council very kindly delivers a box of 2,000 dog poo bags to me when I request this (eventually, it can take weeks to respond), and I distribute them to other dog-walkers.
The Council does nothing at all to support those of us trying to get a little "peer pressure" going - they would rather, Commie-style, foster hatred between dog-walkers and everyone else, so I have given up.
I remember white dog poo, I remember it as being crumbly too. I think it had something else in it that attracted it to the undersite of school shoes, or maybe that was just me.....
Moving to up to date dog defecation I was walking up Floyd Road this morning, from the stadium to the station, and there was loads of it everywhere. Word of the law being dropped must have got around the area.....
It'll be all white on the night.
Arf arf
It is of course the owners who are "guilty", not the dog.
As are the owners of cats that poo everywhere but in their own garden. No one's bagging-and-binning cats' poo, which not only smells appalling and is just as unpleasant to remove from one's shoes, it also has the link with an increased risk of schizophrenia.
That gem of scientific research always winds up cat-owners - can't think why. ;^)
explain why we've been in two minds about everything for so many years. No you haven't.
I think Indigo is correct. One theory was the disappearance of white dog poo is related to our change in eating habits.
Families would traditionally have a Sunday dinner together. The dogs would get the bones, and hence white dog poo on a Monday.
Less family eating, less traditional Sunday roast etc=less white dog poo. Demographic transition of dog poo.
White poo indicates that the dog has been fed on the "traditional" meat-based diet. This was more common, say, 30 years ago than it is today.
Today pet food companies produce dog food that has all manner of stuff that isn't meat; have a look at the ingredients list next time you buy a can of Chum. In some quarters there is quite a debate about whether modern pet food is appropriate for dogs.
Post a Comment
<< Home