Be Civilized!

Miss Carmella's Guide to Etiquette: Be Civilized!

It is that time of the year when a winter's worth of indiscretions are laid bare by the melt. I am talking about DOG POO, people.

I know better than anyone how deep and tall those snowbanks along the city sidewalks grew to be this winter. But if left to our own devices, we dogs would NOT poop on the SIDEWALK. There are much better places to go -- if you would just unsnap that leash. But if you insist on tethering us, then understand that sometimes the only place for a dog to relieve herself might have been right there in the path. But PICK IT UP PEOPLE. You are the ones with the thumbs.

I am stunned by the sheer number of poo piles lying half-dissolved where we ALL have to walk. OK, so dogs don't poop in a box like cats - we all know felines are just plain crazy-fastidious. And OK, so we dogs do like to get much closer to our fellow canine's excrement than people care to (the information you can learn from a good sniff is extraordinary).  But we don't want to WALK IN POO any more than the next species (dung beetles not included).

What is so hard about just picking it up?  Bag on your hand, scoop, toss in the trash. Done. You are now a Good Citizen.

One house I walk by everyday with Dave has a giant poster board informing us "YOU ARE ON POOPCAM." I pooped right in front of it. And Dave demonstrated what a good person with an urban dog does. He scooped it up. I hope we get on YouTube.