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Scoop your poop

By Catherine Toth Fox • July 18, 2011 • Musings, The Daily Dish, The Dog Dish
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We walk our dogs, Sunny and Indy, every day around our neighborhood and take them hiking at least once a week.

And there isn’t a time when we haven’t seen abandoned dog poop along the road or the trail.

Yes, every time.

I don’t understand how people can just leave their dog poop. It’s not like they didn’t notice it. So why leave it there? Honestly, what’s so hard about picking it up and throwing it away?

This isn’t a problem specific to Honolulu. Cities around the world are dealing with irresponsible pet owners. They’re passing laws, issuing fines and posting signs.

In Hawaii, it’s against the law to ditch your dog poop. According to the Hawaiian Humane Society, the city ordinance against littering includes a provision that applies to animals. It states that if a pet deposits feces on private or public property, owners are required to clean it up. You can call the Honolulu Police Department and report it.

Aside from the law, there’s a health reason to pick up your dog poop. It has been estimated that a single gram of dog feces can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria, which are known to cause cramps, diarrhea, intestinal illness and serious kidney disorders in humans. Two or three days worth of poop from a population of about 100 dogs would contribute enough bacteria to temporary close a bay to swimming, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Meaning, it’s not fertilizer.

I get it. I pick up my dog’s poop. I obey the law.

But how do we convince other pet owners to do the same? Unless you catch them in the act of ditching the poop, there’s not much we can do. And that’s the frustrating part.

So we’ll continue to pick up ours and stray poop we see on our daily walks and weekly hikes. But irresponsible dog owners, you’ve been warned. If we catch you, you’ll be up poop creek.

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About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

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26 Comments

  • Reply @ShawnNakamoto July 18, 2011 at 7:57 am

    We currently don’t have a dog but we have always been responsible about picking up poop. We have a neighbor on our street who consistently let their dog poop near our driveway. My husband caught the lady once and demanded that she pick up the poop (and she did) but it continues to happen. One day when I’m home, I’m going to stalk her and when she passes our house and lets her dog poop, I will take her picture and send it to HPD with her address. I don’t understand how people can be so rude.

    • Reply Catherine Toth July 18, 2011 at 5:27 pm

      LOL, I’ve always wanted to do that! Tell me how it goes! Maybe I can post their photos on my blog! OoOooO, new website idea!

  • Reply Paco July 18, 2011 at 8:13 am

    We live in Mililani Mauka and that is also a common problem. It is so irritating and disgusting. For some reason we have a lot of poop on the sidewalk also. I don’t know why the owners let their dogs do it on the sidewalk. One of the responsible owners in our neighbordhood a few years ago went so far as to have signs made (at his own expense) and put up in a few locations. It didn’t really work.

    • Reply Catherine Toth July 18, 2011 at 5:27 pm

      I’ve heard it’s a problem in Mililani. My girlfriend was complaining about that. But it sounds like it’s everywhere. I remember seeing poop on the side of the road up on Mariner’s Ridge and in Portlock. No one is immune.

      • Reply Neil (KibaCafe) July 27, 2011 at 12:35 am

        Yeah, in Kailua too. I walk my Shiba Inu, Kiba everywhere in K-town and I get super p.o.’d at people walking their dogs off leash while either listening to their ipods or drinking alcohol and chatting with friends. Sometimes the poop is right near the shoreline, Ugghh….. kids play there for Pete’s sake. It makes me wanna call the cops and have them issues tickets all day. maybe then they can meet their quotas easier and we can have cleaner beaches

  • Reply David Jackson July 18, 2011 at 8:34 am

    Good luck with that one. It is irritating and unfortunately a problem that is getting worse.

    • Reply Catherine Toth July 18, 2011 at 5:28 pm

      It’s a tough law to enforce. You have to catch people in the act. And even then, what do you do…?

      • Reply David Jackson July 18, 2011 at 6:46 pm

        LOL… catch two people… first the dog… then the owner. I wonder what would happen if you took it to court? Your honor, that poop is not my dogs poop. I demand proof. Is there a test for that?

        All I know is that you go to the dog park here and the trail in and out some days smells like a sewer despite the cedar chips.

  • Reply turkfontaine July 18, 2011 at 9:13 am

    REPORT TO THE MARTIAN EXPLORATORY COMM. subcomander TURK-EARTH OBSERVATION OFFICE -the last earth decade has seen an increased level of human enslavement by their canine overlords. the humans are now almost universally tethered to their masters and must keep pace with them and go wherever their owner’s whim may take them. an additional, alarming development has been a recent new debasement of the humans. they are required to collect, contain and portage the digestive waste of their subjugators. E.O.O. will continue to monitor the situation and will report any changes respectfully, subcom. TURK

    • Reply Catherine Toth July 18, 2011 at 5:28 pm

      Turk, you need to post comments more often!

  • Reply WildeOscar July 18, 2011 at 9:44 am

    I have followed Cat’s Daily Dish for about 3 years, three good years I might add. If there is one thing that ticks Cat off, more than mismanagement in the newsprint business or stinging creatures in the surf, it is this particular breed of dog owner. They know who they are.

    If dogs should begin needing new homes because their owners lacking baggie or shovel have begun to disappear, Cat will definitely be a person of interest in any investigation.

    • Reply Catherine Toth July 18, 2011 at 5:29 pm

      LOL! Funny!

      Yeah, this is definitely a pet peeve, no pun intended. I just don’t get how people can be so lazy. It’s rude — and it’s someone else who has to deal with it. Grr.

  • Reply Old Man July 18, 2011 at 9:53 am

    So stupid of these peoples not picking up!! When we did our European vacation couple yrs ago, it was a rude awakening to find out that in Rome, of all places, they’re not required to pickup. Result is the poop odor and constantly dodging the piles on the sidewalks.Florence & Venice not so bad, at least where we were.

    • Reply Catherine Toth July 18, 2011 at 5:30 pm

      I heard Paris didn’t have poop laws until recently. On our last trip there in October, we were surprised at how clean the streets were. We had heard stories! Nice to see the city cleaned up its act!

  • Reply MaxMaxMax July 18, 2011 at 11:07 am

    I got on my foot while wearing Slippers at the HiKai dog park yesterday… the bad part, well worse part, I didn’t even know it until a couple of hours after I was home. Spent the next hour thoroughly cleaning every where I stepped.

    Some people!

    • Reply MaxMaxMax July 18, 2011 at 11:08 am

      I got *POOP on my foot while wearing Slippers… (typo)

      • Reply Catherine Toth July 18, 2011 at 5:30 pm

        It’s true at the dog park, too. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked up other dogs’ poop there. And there are poop bags and trash cans RIGHT THERE! So annoying!

        • Reply MaxMaxMax July 18, 2011 at 9:05 pm

          Yup, I do that too. Probably a 4 to 1 ration of picking up my dogs’ poop to other dogs’ poop. Because if you don’t either you, or worse, your dogs could wander into it.

          I’ve never seen anyone blatantly not pick it up though. It seems as if “maybe” the dog’s parent wasn’t aware… maybe I’m giving them too much credit?

          • MaxMaxMax July 18, 2011 at 9:06 pm

            4 to 1 *ratio…

            Cat, for my birthday, can we get an edit button for the comments?
            LOL!

  • Reply jaydee July 18, 2011 at 11:14 am

    Someone in my neighborhood is guilty of not picking up his/her dog’s “do-do”. By the size of it I assume it’s a small dog….or a big dog with a small sphincter. At any rate, I am pissed that someone would not pick up after their dog’s mess. I used to have to large Akita’s and never once did I not pick up after them. Ok, once; the female had digestive problems and it was too “runny” to pick…but I digress.

    • Reply MaxMaxMax July 18, 2011 at 3:08 pm

      You’re excused for not picking that one up, LOL!

      • Reply Catherine Toth July 18, 2011 at 5:31 pm

        Big dog with a small sphincter. LOL! I couldn’t read past that!

  • Reply kalena July 18, 2011 at 1:36 pm

    When walk our dogs at night we see dog doo doo left on the road and shishi on the tires of cars parked on the road….ugh. No class.

    • Reply Catherine Toth July 18, 2011 at 5:31 pm

      Pee on car tires is bad, too. That’s another blog topic waiting to happen!

  • Reply oldshoes July 18, 2011 at 5:34 pm

    so the word is definately out there about “picking up the poop”. and its made even easier with all the gadgets and plastic gloves, etc. So why dont people do it?what the hec is wrong with people these days? i didnt think i’d ever be seeing signs and instruction videos on how-to-wash-your hands in the 21st century! really?…come on people….

  • Reply zzzzzz July 19, 2011 at 11:13 am

    It’s not just the poop that’s a problem. Dog pee can kill grass, and other plants, too.

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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