Dog poop on Paris sidewalk
This article "Dog poop on Paris sidewalk" will be published in one of our national journal here in Paris. Like I wrote in my last post "Changing the world", let's influence change in our society. We have to be the change so that lives and society can be transformed.
Walking around in Montreuil is usually a Herculean task for me because of the many hurdles of “Dog poop” I have to jump over. It has been very frustrating because the sight of dog poop everywhere makes me want to throw up. One day my son stepped on dog poop on the street and all hell broke loose I started shouting at him for not been watchful enough, it wasn’t his fault, but I put all the blame on my son. I know many relate to what I am talking about. Most people are now forced to accept it and just look the other way when they come in contact with dog poop on the side walk.
Personally I am a lover of any kind of pets especially dogs, I love dogs as pets so much so that if I have one in the future, I will never allow their poop to irritate any one on the streets. Many dog owners treat their dogs like human beings at home but treat them like animals outside on the streets. If your dog should poo in your living room, will you walk away and leave it there? Guess not, you will clean it up quickly before a visitor walks into your home or your child comes in and mistakenly steps on it.
My dear dog owner, lets carry this same attitude into our streets, the streets of Montreuil or any part of France is our collective sitting room. When you take a walk with your dog, hold your hand gloves and a nylon bag which you will utilize incase your dog poo on the street. If we as human beings will not defecate on the streets, so also our dogs must not act otherwise. Dogs are pets like human babies, many prefer to have dogs live with them than humans. This goes a long way to tell us how dog owners love their dogs.
“If bad dog owners feel it’s ‘inconvenient’ for them to pick-up their own animal crap, imagine how responsible people feel to Live with that.” Unknown Author
Many people rushing early to walk have had to go back home just to change their shoes and wash up because they mistakenly stepped on dog poo on the street, we can only imagine how that person’s day was ruined because of the negligence of one dog owner. Kudos to all the dog owners that clean up the streets any time their dogs poo, I have a special award for you, its called “The cleanest dog owner”. If I have time I will make a special poster which you will download and print out to show other dog owners how to keep our streets clean and free from dog poop.
Foreigners have moaned and groaned about all the dog poop they see on sidewalks. There are actually laws in France that say dog owners have to pick-up after their dog and you may even spot the occasional sign reminding owners about the 400EU fine if they forget their pooper scooper. Do you know that many people who would have loved to come to Paris have been discouraged not to come because of the stories about dog poop that visitors take back home.
One single gram of dog feces contains over 23 million fecal coliform bacteria along with giardia, salmonella, hookworms, tapeworms, whipworms, and roundworms causing numerous health problems for humans, pets and wildlife. Dog poo is not just ‘poo’. It is serious and dangerous fecal matter.
Dog poo carried to humans can cause toxocariasis, an infection caused by roundworm which lives in the intestines of dogs. Parasite eggs can be released in the faeces of infected dogs and if not cleaned up these eggs can become infectious within 2-3 weeks. Toxocariasis can occur when someone (usually a child!) accidentally ingests small particles of contaminated soil contaminated by dogs.
Where are toxocara eggs most likely to be found? Many infected soil samples are found in the vicinity of children’s play areas, even though dogs are often banned from these areas. People each year suffer permanent vision loss because of dog roundworms. Roundworm infection is also a leading cause of epilepsy among children.
Having written all the negativity about dog poop on our streets, am calling on the general public to do a check up on dog owners, the police cannot be everywhere to catch up offenders so let’s help stop this menace in our neighborhood.
Take photographs or videos of the dog doing its fetid business for evidence. Try to clearly identify the owner’s face and the dog’s specific characteristics, as well as taking notes of date and time it occurred in your sidewalk, or any elsewhere by taking note of the place. Show this evidence to the authorities. Also, there is a new way to test a dog poop by DNA, I believe all these measures can deter dog owners from littering our sidewalks with dog poop. Hope you were enlightened by this article, please share with friends to create awareness.
By Hilda Oti
