Tough against Dog Droppings

I have always been annoyed with dog owners who do not pick up their dogs' waste. It is not supposed to lay in the street or on well kept lawns. Leaving it affects the public image of all dog owners.

In a town in Israel, the authorities have come up with a new, high tech method to work against the dog waste problem. They set up a DNA database of local dogs, then they will use the data to match the dog droppings to the dog, and thus to the owner. Thus, the owners can be identified and punished. So far, giving DNA samples to the database is voluntary, and dog owners who comply with the rules and pick up the droppings can be rewarded. The authorities are considering making the DNA sampling compulsory.

This is surely an interesting method to catch the bad guys. No blame is to fall on us dogs, it is in the age old separation of duties between dogs and humans that humans pick up the droppings.