My dog poop, your trash. Is there a problem?
Dear Abby tackled one of the finer points of dog poop etiquette yesterday, but I’m going to have to disagree with her advice on this one.
“My wife and I were walking our terriers one evening when one had to answer nature’s call,” a reader wrote. “Being responsible dog owners, I picked up the ‘deposit’ with a bag we carry for such occasions.
“It was garbage pickup day and the neighbors’ trash cans were out at the curb, so at the next house I placed the bag in the trash can. My wife, family and co-workers all think this was not appropriate — that I should have carried it home and disposed of it in our trash can.
“Abby, we were 15 minutes from home, but given the choice, I would rather not carry that bag and figured a garbage bin is a garbage bin. I’ll abide by your answer and admit I was wrong if you say so.”
It was signed “Pooped Out in North Carolina.”
Abby’s response: “As long as the bag was securely sealed, I don’t think adding it to someone’s trash bin was a social no-no.”
Had he written Dear ohmidog! we would have told him this — after first asking, “How can you be in front of a neighbor’s house and 15 minutes from home?”
Since it was garbage day, and the event occured at night, that means the poop bag would remain in the neighbor’s trash bin for several days (a week in my Baltimore neighborhood), until the next collection. While a person’s trash may no longer be their property, their bin is, and thus you have no right to put your dog’s poop in it — no matter how securely sealed it may be.
While there are some neighbors that might be cool about this, myself included, it’s bad form, and gives the anti-dog crowd something to complain about. If there are no public trash receptacles available — or even a community dumpster — pack your poop all the way home.
That’s my take. What’s your’s?
(Photo from the flickr page of left-hand)
Posted by jwoestendiek September 22nd, 2009 under Muttsblog.
Tags: appropriate, bin, dear abby, dispose, disposing, dog, dogs, feces, neighbors, poop, private, public, receptacle, responsible, trash, waste
Comments
Comment from Derek
Time September 22, 2009 at 9:57 am
I used to toss the poo in any garbage can I came across, regardless of the day. However, I now only toss it in somebody else’s trash can if it is the evening before pick-up. Otherwise, I haul the stinky bag all over the neighborhood, which is usually for most of the walk since my dog always goes pretty much the second we are far enough away from the house to make it not worth turning around to drop off the poo bag.
Comment from Nancy
Time September 23, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Be a good neighbor! Take it home or deposit in a city receptacle that is picked up on a daily basis. Keep a metal, not
plastic, covered container in your yard for your dog. Metal does
not retain odor as much. Then toss on trash day!
Comment from susan
Time September 25, 2009 at 9:44 am
I agree with you. I never put the bag in someone else’s trash bin. Ever. I might toss in an empty water bottle but dog poo is a different breed of trash. I always carry it unless I’m coming back the same way, in which case, I might hide it in a brush pile by the road and get it on the way back.
Comment from LOUISE
Time September 28, 2009 at 5:54 pm
HAVING BEEN THE RECIEPENT OF DOG DO IN MY TRASH CAN ON MY PROPERTY FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS I FIND IT A BLATANT DISREGARD FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS AND SHOWS THAT YOU ARE A LOW LIFE AND CERTAINLY NOT A RESPONSIBLE DOG OWNER.
WITH THE HEAT AND RAIN AND AN UNCOVERED TRASH CAN THE FECES GET WET AND MELT ..DO YOU THINK THAT IS A NICE PICK UP FOR THE SANITATION MEN AND WOMEN…I DONT…THIS IS PART OF WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE TODAY…THEY SIMPLE DONT CARE ABOUT ANYONE BUT THEMSELVES…ITS A SAD REFLECTION ON SOCIETY AND SPOCIAL ETIQUITTE..
Comment from penelope
Time August 30, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Many of my neighbors put their dog poop in our private trash bin…it’s so smelly we can’t open the bin without almost fainting! I have asked the owners to stop and they say NO! It has to be against the law…they have their own trash, it’s their dog, why not take it home? I find it disgusting and rude, and trashy as well…pun intended.
Comment from Jimbo
Time September 18, 2010 at 3:06 pm
California state law requires a bin for each address and those bins are private property of the resident. If you decided to own a dog you decided to carry and deal with its feces and its odors. Passing it off on strangers and neighbors just makes me dislike dog owners in general, especially people that decided to own several big dogs and that refuse to leave the poop in their own rubbish bins.
Comment from Social Norm
Time October 20, 2010 at 11:24 am
Twenty years ago no dog owner picked up their dog poop outside of NYC. Slowly NYC scooper laws spread from urban areas to suburbs and throughout the country. However, the disposal of this bag should be in a trash bin – ANYONE’S trash bin that is in an alley or on the curb. There can be no compromise on this matter as it is not part of the law or the societal norm and certainly not reasonable. The alternative is leaving the poop on your yard.
Comment from Angry
Time December 28, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Okay listen, it’s NOT okay to put your dog poop in someone elses trash can. For one, it ends up STAYING in the bottom of the can after the garbage men come (would you please come and get it out??). Two, I pay for my garbage disposal service. No one should put ANYTHING in my can. Three, yesterday it was windy and I swear to God my cans blew over and there was not one but TWO small bags of dog poop that fell out on to the ground in front of my house. Now I actually have to pick it up and put back in my can so that it will stay there for who knows how long?? People with dogs are just filthy animals themselves. That’s what this all makes me think. I WISH I would catch whoever it is doing it when they do it so I can give them a piece of my mind. I am very aggravated over this because the two bags of poop are in front of my house as I write this. If I knew where they lived i would throw it back at their house. Just disgusting people!!!
Comment from Dotherightthing
Time October 31, 2011 at 10:05 pm
It is NOT okay to put poop in someone else’s pail. I am not sure why someone would think it is okay. It is soooo rude!
Comment from Tracey
Time January 30, 2012 at 7:49 pm
To ANGRY –
I find it amazing that you actually wrote “People with dogs are just filthy animals themselves”. Do you honestly believe that? I am a nurse, AND a responsible dog owner – I bag up my dog’s bowel movements and dispose of them properly, even if that means carrying the bag 2 miles, and immediately go inside and wash my hands. That makes me a filthy animal? You sound like a cold-hearted, unfeeling person to me. I understand why you might be upset about people putting the bags in your garbage, but guess what? some of us “filthy animals” might prefer to simply leave the pile sun-soaked in your driveway? Hell I might do it just because of your narcissist attitude. Maybe that’s why your neighbors are doing it – if you speak to them the way you do on here about others, there’s a good chance they’re trying to give you a hint about something…
Comment from jen
Time September 22, 2009 at 9:00 am
I used to beat myself up every Sunday night through Monday afternoon about this. Is poo trash? I think so. I throw my sealed bags in the lid-less trashcans in my neighborhood. Monday’s fair game. If the can has not been taken back to the house by our 3 PM walkie, it’s asking for trash.
We have a lady who lives in our neighborhood, and her house is surrounded by dogs and kids. She hates both! Not sure why she moved here, but I know I love seeking out her can for Monday poos.