Cedwards38
02-21-2016, 10:18 AM
Maxwell's Column in today's (2/21/2016) Orlando Sentinel, which is on target for the oft discussed TOTV issue:
The dog-doo debate: Can you put it in someone else's trash?
Scott MaxwellScott MaxwellContact ReporterTaking Names
Maxwell: The hottest debate in America now isn't guns or abortion. It's dog poop.
One of the hottest debates raging in America has nothing to do with guns, abortion or Supreme Court vacancies.
It's about poop.
Specifically dog poop — and whether it's appropriate for dog-walkers to drop bags of scooped-up poop into other people's trash cans.
A reader told me a doggy-doo debate was smoldering in her neighborhood.
Then I spotted similar debates everywhere. In New York and Arizona. On Reddit and Nextdoor.com. I even found a story in the normally highbrow Washington Monthly, entitled "The ethics of poop disposal." (Except it didn't say "poop.")
POLL: When is it OK to leave your dog's poop in someone else's trash can?
POLL: When is it OK to leave your dog's poop in someone else's trash can?
As one without a dog, I never realized this was a debate. I figured we live in a world with very few universal truths. Yet one of them is that you don't leave bags of feces at someone else's house.
But it turns out, I may be in the malodorous minority.
A poll of more than 400 people conducted on Audubon Park's nextdoor.com hyperlocal page found that two-thirds of those thought it was OK to drop tied bags of canine caca in other people's trash cans.
Frankly, I was appalled. And I expressed my consternation to my wife, who responded: "I don't see what the big deal is. It's in a bag, right?"
That's when I realized: I was married to a poop person.
Nineteen years of marriage. Two children. Yet I hardly knew the woman.
I needed to understand the other side of the dog-doo dilemma. So I dove in. (To the dilemma.)
I learned that there were all sorts of variables at play — whether the trash has been picked up, the time of day, the heat and humidity, even the size of the dog.
I posed a question about it on my Facebook page and in no time had 100 responses. They came from doctors, lawyers, moms, dads, corporate execs, even an interior designer.
After the third judge weighed in, I realized we had the numbers to issue an appellate ruling on the matter.
I pen columns on literally life-or-death issues that don't generate nearly this much debate. Everyone, it seems, has strong opinions on dog doo.
Terri, for instance, was very clear cut: "If it's your dog, it's your poop. Take it home."
Wendy seemed more forgiving: "Better my trash can than my yard."
Mary went Ten Commandments on me: "Keep thy poop to thyself, or it will come back to haunt thee."
Andy psychoanalyzed his own poop actions: "I've done it, but immediately felt very guilty. That suggested I should not pooh-pooh my reservations against dumping."
Brian seemed irritated people were even voicing their objections: "There are plenty of things about which to feel proprietary, but garbage is garbage. Ease up, control freaks."
Over on the Audubon Park board, where they had posted the poll, admitted dog-doo-dropper Marc said he truly wanted to hear the objections: "What is the actual issue? If I'm given a good reason I have no problem saying I've been morally corrupt doing it all these years."
Rick gave him four reasons: "Rude. Disgusting. Lazy. Weird."
Toni gave him a sanitary one: "Our garbage can usually retains a little bit of water. And we clean it with soap every couple of weekends. I would be kind of annoyed if poop soup was brewing in it before we could clean it."
Heh heh. She said "poop soup."
Dan actually got aggressive — and somehow managed to invoke Michael Jordan: "The city owns the can. If I have a sealed up crap bag and the trash ain't been collected yet, I'm slam dunking that baggie like M.J. Don't like it? Come play defense. Haha."
JT asked: "If a person poops in the park is it okay to put it in a neighbor's garbage can?"
Good Lord, JT.
Robbie was generous: "If my can is out, you are welcome to put a tied poop bag in it empty or not. It's a trash can, and trash goes it in."
Kenda went eco-conscious: "If you add diatomaceous earth (food grade) to your dog's or cat's food daily, you can eliminate worms and other parasites. And it can also be used in the garden to keep bugs away."
Rosalind made a big mistake. She told people she didn't want poop in her trash cans … and then gave her address.
And Lisa probably summed up many people's thoughts: "What a prime example of a first world problem."
You're right, Lisa. But I'm a first-world columnist writing for first-world readers. And if dog poo is the issue of the day, then dog poo is the issue I shall address!
So, after thoughtful consideration, while I'm not a fan, I have concluded that you can drop your dog poo in another's trash can only on trash day when the can is at the end of the street and has not yet been picked up — and when said poo has been packed in something you're sure is leak-proof.
I've also decided that Jerry Seinfeld had it right when he stated that, if aliens ever come down to earth, they will conclude that dogs are the rulers.
Said Seinfeld: "If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge?"
smaxwell@tribpub.com
The dog-doo debate: Can you put it in someone else's trash?
Scott MaxwellScott MaxwellContact ReporterTaking Names
Maxwell: The hottest debate in America now isn't guns or abortion. It's dog poop.
One of the hottest debates raging in America has nothing to do with guns, abortion or Supreme Court vacancies.
It's about poop.
Specifically dog poop — and whether it's appropriate for dog-walkers to drop bags of scooped-up poop into other people's trash cans.
A reader told me a doggy-doo debate was smoldering in her neighborhood.
Then I spotted similar debates everywhere. In New York and Arizona. On Reddit and Nextdoor.com. I even found a story in the normally highbrow Washington Monthly, entitled "The ethics of poop disposal." (Except it didn't say "poop.")
POLL: When is it OK to leave your dog's poop in someone else's trash can?
POLL: When is it OK to leave your dog's poop in someone else's trash can?
As one without a dog, I never realized this was a debate. I figured we live in a world with very few universal truths. Yet one of them is that you don't leave bags of feces at someone else's house.
But it turns out, I may be in the malodorous minority.
A poll of more than 400 people conducted on Audubon Park's nextdoor.com hyperlocal page found that two-thirds of those thought it was OK to drop tied bags of canine caca in other people's trash cans.
Frankly, I was appalled. And I expressed my consternation to my wife, who responded: "I don't see what the big deal is. It's in a bag, right?"
That's when I realized: I was married to a poop person.
Nineteen years of marriage. Two children. Yet I hardly knew the woman.
I needed to understand the other side of the dog-doo dilemma. So I dove in. (To the dilemma.)
I learned that there were all sorts of variables at play — whether the trash has been picked up, the time of day, the heat and humidity, even the size of the dog.
I posed a question about it on my Facebook page and in no time had 100 responses. They came from doctors, lawyers, moms, dads, corporate execs, even an interior designer.
After the third judge weighed in, I realized we had the numbers to issue an appellate ruling on the matter.
I pen columns on literally life-or-death issues that don't generate nearly this much debate. Everyone, it seems, has strong opinions on dog doo.
Terri, for instance, was very clear cut: "If it's your dog, it's your poop. Take it home."
Wendy seemed more forgiving: "Better my trash can than my yard."
Mary went Ten Commandments on me: "Keep thy poop to thyself, or it will come back to haunt thee."
Andy psychoanalyzed his own poop actions: "I've done it, but immediately felt very guilty. That suggested I should not pooh-pooh my reservations against dumping."
Brian seemed irritated people were even voicing their objections: "There are plenty of things about which to feel proprietary, but garbage is garbage. Ease up, control freaks."
Over on the Audubon Park board, where they had posted the poll, admitted dog-doo-dropper Marc said he truly wanted to hear the objections: "What is the actual issue? If I'm given a good reason I have no problem saying I've been morally corrupt doing it all these years."
Rick gave him four reasons: "Rude. Disgusting. Lazy. Weird."
Toni gave him a sanitary one: "Our garbage can usually retains a little bit of water. And we clean it with soap every couple of weekends. I would be kind of annoyed if poop soup was brewing in it before we could clean it."
Heh heh. She said "poop soup."
Dan actually got aggressive — and somehow managed to invoke Michael Jordan: "The city owns the can. If I have a sealed up crap bag and the trash ain't been collected yet, I'm slam dunking that baggie like M.J. Don't like it? Come play defense. Haha."
JT asked: "If a person poops in the park is it okay to put it in a neighbor's garbage can?"
Good Lord, JT.
Robbie was generous: "If my can is out, you are welcome to put a tied poop bag in it empty or not. It's a trash can, and trash goes it in."
Kenda went eco-conscious: "If you add diatomaceous earth (food grade) to your dog's or cat's food daily, you can eliminate worms and other parasites. And it can also be used in the garden to keep bugs away."
Rosalind made a big mistake. She told people she didn't want poop in her trash cans … and then gave her address.
And Lisa probably summed up many people's thoughts: "What a prime example of a first world problem."
You're right, Lisa. But I'm a first-world columnist writing for first-world readers. And if dog poo is the issue of the day, then dog poo is the issue I shall address!
So, after thoughtful consideration, while I'm not a fan, I have concluded that you can drop your dog poo in another's trash can only on trash day when the can is at the end of the street and has not yet been picked up — and when said poo has been packed in something you're sure is leak-proof.
I've also decided that Jerry Seinfeld had it right when he stated that, if aliens ever come down to earth, they will conclude that dogs are the rulers.
Said Seinfeld: "If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge?"
smaxwell@tribpub.com