(please note: this is not aimed at everyone who owns a dog. Most dog owners are responsible people who clean up after their pets)
There have been two incidents in my recent past that have left me feeling revolted and annoyed – and they both concern dogs and their ‘business’. The first took place walking home from work, when I saw a pair of lads walking a dog down the pavement, in the middle of a reasonably busy street. Nothing unusual there – except the dog pooed on the pavement, and the best answer the lad walking the dog could come up with as I walked past: ‘It’s not my dog’.
Whaaaaa? Does that matter when you’re letting the dog literally crap all over a pavement? You’re holding the leash, the dog is therefore under your control and therefore your responsibility!
It gets worse. This morning, as I was walking into work, I unwittingly set foot in… dog poo.
With the shoes I wear, which have numerous grooves, this was distinctly unpleasant. Cue heading upstairs to clean it off, a tedious and gross experience that made me gag a couple of times. The culprit? The dog (or more precisely the dog owner) who lives in one of the flats above the store. This dog doesn’t get many trips to the local parks, and tend to therefore crap on the roof above the store, or in the little ‘garden’ area behind it (which happens to be a walkway to get to the store and also to the flats above). The owner doesn’t seem to understand that she needs to clear up after her pooch – she is creating a health hazard for herself, her kids, and for everyone else that uses the area.
I haven’t had the chance to speak to her, but I plan on mentioning this to the owner. I don’t want to be cleaning poo off my shoe because the owner is too lazy to clean it up.
I despise this, too!! When I take Rosie for walks, I always have doggy bags. However, where I live now, I’ve noticed that a lot of people don’t pick up after their dogs. At first, I was really angry, but then on one of my walks I realised it took me over a kilometre before I reached a bin, and then I kind of got it. It makes me want to write a letter to the council and say: you are the problem. No one wants to walk over a kilometre carrying literal shit in a bag. No one. It’s not fair. You want people to pick up after their dogs? Have more bins.
What really surprises me is, when we had Rosie in two places before we moved to the city, I never encountered this problem. In country towns, there were bins everywhere. On one of our old tracks – a circuit of 4.8km – there were at least six bins I can remember, and some close together. And the council also supplied dog bags in tins, too, so that if you forgot yours, or ran out, there were options.
I literally can’t believe Brisbane, a capital city (or, at least the part I’m living in), has so few bins. It’s like they don’t understand the problem. (And obviously this goes beyond dog shit – it’s all sorts of rubbish that keeps getting dumped.) Anyway, I’m totally with you. I hate when people don’t clean up after their dogs. It’s so rude.