DNA From Dog Poop Could Be Used To Punish Owners Who Don’t Clean Up After Their Pooches
DNA from dog poop? What a great idea! After all, no other deterrent against less-than-scrupulous dog owners has worked so far in any country, at least not effectively.
As the Washington Post reported recently, irresponsible dog owners‘ days could be numbered, as a company which matches dogs to the DNA left behind in their poop is reportedly in talks with local authorities across North America and Britain.
The scheme is already in place across a number of apartment complexes and condo buildings, where operators report very high compliance rates as dog owners know they will be unable to deny the evidence if it was their dog whose poop was not cleaned up.
PooPrints, who offers the service, work by building a DNA database of dogs in a particular area so that any dog mess found can be quickly traced back to the offending animal and its owner.
But not everyone is a big fan of the DNA dog poop scheme, as it requires monthly fees to be paid, which are, of course, upfront.
One Dallas resident, Brian Barcus, speaking about the scheme, said he was unhappy with his building’s decision to contract with PooPrints. “Everybody wants to live in a clean community,” he told the Houston Chronicle, adding “I can see the intent behind the new rule, but I don’t understand how they can force it upon us in the middle of our lease.”
There are those who are all for the program, such as property managers who find it to be the most effective way of keeping their estates clean from dog poop. For example, Houston-area leasing manager Molly Kalish told the publication the following.
“I think it’s a great idea. The main reason we decided to try this new program was because we had a specific issue on one of our floors with accidents,” she said.
