Friday, January 8, 2010

Open Letter to South Loop Dog Owners

A reader (JC) writes:
I'd like to see an "Open Letter to South Loop Dog Owners" thread that starts a dialog regarding people who don't pick up their pet's droppings. No sooner does a dusting of snow hit the ground, you get a certain type of person who doesn't feel the need to scoop.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't ever bother to pick up after my teacup yorkie. She is so small its like borderline goose poop.

mike said...

I am a South Loop dog owner, and have not once witnessed a 'poo-and-run'. Of course, we all know that there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. I always try to bring extra bags in case I run into someone who is in need of one, and often, if they are, they ask before I offer. I don't know if these are the same people who simply never pick up after their dog, but I don't know that I'll ever know.

I will say that I was expecting the worst once the new Printer’s Row Park opened up. In years past, the plot would turn into a literal minefield, and once the thaw came, it was quite awful. However, I've been quite surprised that the amount of disregarded poo isn't anywhere near levels in years past. Then again, winter is not over, yet.

My concern is that there is little that can be done to convince these current criminals to change their ways. I don't have any really good ideas on the matter... Put bags everywhere? Who would pay for that?

Andy Sites said...

I can't imagine doggie bags to be a big expense. Putting some out in especially bad areas cannot be too bad. If it really bothers you, this is the best solution I can see. Personally, I don't notice it very much.

Anonymous said...

Hey Teacup - you're right. When I come over to your house and use the washroom, I usually don't wipe off that little dribble of pea on your toilet, so it makes sense.

Anonymous said...

Dogs should be banned from the city.
It is the only way to stop bad dog owners from ruining the grassy areas in which our children play and the areas where the beautiful flowers grow

Anonymous said...

Re: Banning dogs

Do you have any concept of how much $$$ pet owners spend in the city?

F*cking moron.

Jim in the Sloop said...

Speaking as one of the 95% of dog owners who pick up the poop of my dog and others 100% of the time, I'd like to suggest that all you anonymous people just stick some baggies in your pockets and pick up any stray poop you run across. Problem solved.

Anonymous said...

I live on Michigan Ave just south of 18th street. I walk my lab several times a day around the neighborhood and although I ALWAYS pick up the evidence it never fails that when I bend over there are several other frozen piles lying around in eyesight. Frequently I add some of that to my bag. That's what I suggest to all of the other responsible dog owners in the area. This is not a problem that is going to go away. Putting bag stations around the neighborhood is not the solution since there are too many people that refuse to pick it up whether they have a bag or not. Either you are a responsible owner and you expect to pick up crap a couple times a day and have a bag in your pocket....or you are a disgusting, irresponsible jackass that doesn't give a damn about the neighborhood or the people living in it...if that's the case then you're probably the same asshole that scattered the remnants of your White Castle lunch all over my sidewalk even though there is a garbage can on every corner. If I see you throw garbage on the street or watch you walk away from your dogs steaming pile of shit believe me...you'll know who I am.

JP said...

There are irresponsible people everywhere. Bear fans urinating in public. Drivers throwing trash out their car windows or dumping their ashtrays as they pull out of their spot on the street. people walking and drinking andthrowing their container on the ground. It is interesting that all the attacks are on dog owners who don't pick and none to the other folks who are just as bad, except they don't have a dog.

I have always had dogs, sometimes more than one. If I see someone leaving a pile I say something just as I say something if I see someone pissing or littering. And if I see a pile left by a moron, I pick it up, justlike I pick up the beer bottles, can and other litter I come across.

I figured out a long time ago you aren't going to turn bad citizens into good ones, you are better off getting the good ones to do a little more.

Carl said...

Pretty much every time I walk my dog, I'm picking up either other animals poop and/or empty bottles & cans.

It's my neighborhood. Civic pride is not a thing of the past. I don't smoke but that doesn't keep me from sweeping up the butts that accumulate in front of my building, etc.

Anonymous said...

I don't have a dog in the city, but my family dog in the suburb is still alive and he's the best ever. Anyway, banning dogs is CRAZY talk. However, we should ban stupid people from owning dogs. I applaud and thank you guys that pick up stranger's poops as it's a very nice thing to do. If such a thought entered my mind all I would say is... "Hell's NO! There's no way I'm touching some stranger dog poopies." The worst sidewalk to walk in Sloop's Michigan Ave is the one in front of 1720 S Michigan. It's the only side walk I see that has dog poop/piss. I've heard they even have a dog run that has doggie bags. I can't believe other people are paying for doggie bags. What ever happened to reusing grocery plastic bags? Almost all the other sidewalks in front of residential buildings on this street are pretty clean.

Lance Uppercut said...

IMO dog poop is dog poop. If you've got a baggy out already and are picking up your dog droppings, what's the big deal about picking up some other random waste?

There is nothing worse than seeing a pile of crap in the middle of a busy sidewalk. It gets stepped on and tracked into homes, vehicles, businesses and eateries.

Anonymous said...

The difference, JP, is that you (a citizen) can't really stop someone in a car who's throwing trash outside the window. It is similarly hard to reason with visiting drunks. Dog owners who you know live in the immediate area are another thing.

Carl said...

I'm not really following the reasoning of the previous post.

Anonymous said...

I walk my dog in the vacant field at Harrison and Wells. For some reason, many people think it's OK to not pickup there either...maybe since it's technically private property...but I think the rats and mice that eat the dog poo don't really care. People don't seem to realize that not only is stepping in poo gross, but it also helps support the rat population in the city. The same goes with people who walk their dogs in alleys, thinking it's OK since they aren't as visible to the public compared to letting the main streets. Like Carl, I also try to pick up trash and recyclables, even in the private lot. For some reason, I can even get into the mindset of people who litter - why do they think it's OK?

JP said...

I don't see how it is any different to confront a dog owner than any other irresponsible person. But clearly, the bad dog owners are the ones everyone complains about. When my daughter's foot got cut from broken glass in the park I would have preferred she had just stepped in dog poop.

Carl said...

This may seem a little extreme, but I consider adults who willfully and knowingly litter to be border-line sociopaths. Total disregard of your surroundings and the other people in it smacks of deeper issues.

True story: I was walking near the corner of Clark and Polk on a busy summer weekday. While several cars were stopped at a light, one waiting passenger opened her car door and dumped a whole bag of fast food trash in the street . . . in plain view of myself and a bunch of other pedestrians waiting on the same signal light. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I took a step in her direction and said, "Excuse me, you dropped something." . Another guy nearer to her yelled, "Yeah, pick that shit up you dirtbag!". The woman in question and the driver of the vehicle just sat there staring at the light, then driving off as if nothing had happened. The closer guy who yelled picked up their trash and slammed in in a garbage can three yards away.

Anonymous said...

Everytime I walk by the Jewel on Wabash I'm disgusted by the amount of fried chicken bones strewn all over the sidewalk and planters. Even more troubling is the fact that Jewel has a 24-hour security team standing a few feet away that do absolutely nothing about it. Ignorance is so annoying!

Anonymous said...

http://southpoop.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

correction:
SouthPoop

Unknown said...

the poop is a problem that will not go away. When you see a dog owner walk away from a poop, SAY SOMETHING! same goes fo all other types of littering.

Cheer up people it could be worse. Have any of you walked the residential streets of Paris, Rome, London, NYC? They really like to ignore their dog waste! Chicagoans are much more responsible IMO.

Anonymous said...

Now that the snow is thawing, I had the great pleasure of being greeted with weeks' old piles of melting dogsh!t all over the sidewalk on my walk to the eL this morning. Thank you dog owners!

Also, I completely agree with the previous post regarding the fried chicken bones all over the sidewalk near Jewel. People are so inconsiderate.

FGFM said...

Now that the snow is thawing, I had the great pleasure of being greeted with weeks' old piles of melting dogsh!t all over the sidewalk on my walk to the eL this morning. Thank you dog owners!

Tasty.

Anonymous said...

I saw the same thing this morning as I walked west on 16th street towards michigan ave from prairie ave. On the sidewalk alongside the park at 16th and Indiana, there were literally mountains of dog crap! Shame on the dog-owner community!!

Anonymous said...

As a dog owner I dont understand how people can just leave their dog's waste. Regardless of the size of your dog or location, back alleys, large parks, vacant land. The alley behind 1720 and 1620 Michigan is horrendous. Massive amounts of waste is everywhere. Please people respect your neighborhood and pick it up. If you cant pick up your own dog's waste then perhaps you should reconsider dog ownership.

like dogs hate owners said...

I live on the edge of Dearborn Park
(the actual park) at least a dozen times an evening as i sit in my living room watching, dog owners let their unleashed dogs use the bushes along my patio, That I pay to maintain (private property)
as a place for their dogs to urinate or defecate. the also use the space in front of my gate that my young son uses to access the park.
Is this fair? not at all, I don't let my son piss on their back doors. stay off private property.
Then they don't understand when I am rude.

Anonymous said...

I live in a building that provides a private dog park and several dog stations with free poo bags and people STILL do not pick up after their dogs. Some people are just lazy and hopeless...