The Politics of Poop

While pundits on the eastern seaboard debate Sidney Blumenthal's new book, Virginia Postrel is writing about a related but far more significant topic: dog droppings.

Comments

[Big Tex]

everything's gonna be ok, the texas government has declared that they will place all dog poop-offenders in a state funded dog prison, surely they'll get the picture.

[The Mountain Goat]

I agree that the law is an inartful way to deal with dog owners.

The school merely need invest is some electronic deterrents and lacrosse sticks. Living in a condo, I plug in my high-pitch dog eliminator, and people can't even walk their dogs near my unit. The dogs simply won't come nor go.

As to the lacrosse sticks? Its a quick way to return the lost droppings to the dog's owner, often from a distance of over fifty feet.

[Tom]

Further proof of the pussification of urban Texans, too many of whom have come here from other, "nicer" states. Why the hell do they think boots were invented?

[s.m. koppelman]

Chaque a son gout. I think the law is a splendid way to deal with dog owners. Combine a wave of ticketing with a public-awareness campaign in the media, and letting your dog crap on city sidewalks will be stigmatized in short order. It's called a deterrent, and it works just fine in cities known for a whole lot more ornery individualism than Dallas. I wasn't aware that assholism was a special and cherished quality among the people of Dallas; I thought the Texan self-image was one of civility--tipping one's hat, holding doors open and so forth.

With all due respect for Ms. Postrel's monomaniacal belief in "market solutions", I can't really see Texans (or anyone else) pushing for schools to spend taxpayer money on dog-shit cleanup contractors. Maybe instead of playing and socializing during recess, kids should spend their 15 minutes outdoors walking around with plastic bags and sharpened sticks, picking up dog shit left behind by self-absorbed accountants with fancy hats. It would build character.

I guess that would be preferable to, you know, shaming the rugged frontiersmen and cattlewomen of the Metro Dallas suburbs into cleaning up after their dogs.

[Virginia Postrel]

I've got nothing against the police issuing tickets to people who allow their dogs to pollute other people's property. But the powers that be aren't particularly interested in devoting scarce personnel to that duty. So it's market solutions--and, more important, social pressure--or nothing.

The lacrosse stick approach works only if you have nothing to do all day but patrol your lawn. If people want their dogs to run (and defecate) freely, they should live in the country. Cities require civilized behavior.