How To Be A Good Neighbor When You Own Pets
Don't Let This Happen to You
What Should You Do When the Crap is in Your Court (So To Speak)
Do you clean up after your dog when he poops on the street? I hope you do. I used to live in New York years before the pooper scooper laws and believe me I would have rather walked a minefield than deal with the disgusting mess on the streets.
Everyone had a dog, because everyone was afraid of crime and thought even the tiniest dog could at least yap and warn them someone was breaking into their home. When you consider the city had a population of 10 million people and at least one dog per family that was a lot of, ah, crap on the streets.
But what do you do when you don't live in the city and someone allows their pet to crap on your lawn? Some people scoop it up and leave it back at the neighbor's but I think that's just asking for war. People can become very irrational. Never had the problem and most people where I live scoop their pet's poop. I once had someone leave poop in the little plastic poop bag on my lawn. I prefer to believe they stopped to tie a shoelace and forgot the bag. At least it was nice and tidy.
I also had a neighbor think we were allowing our little dogs to poop on the grass divider between our garage driveways, when in reality they were pellets for feeding the grass in our townhome community. I felt rather insulted by the accusation (and that the neighbor believed that we would do such a thing) and who knows, you could be wrong about the culprit. Actually, I should have come back with, "No we don't allow our dogs to poop on anyone's lawn, but it would be real nice if you tied up your garbage so I don't have to chase it down and pick it up off the street every week - you pig. I actually picked up your daughter's disgusting used diaper off the street last week."
Now see how these things can escalate?
Try to catch the doer in the act with your cellphone camera (and, yes, you will feel downright silly lurking in the hydrangeas for hours at a time waiting for some animal to come crap on your lawn, and, yes, nosy old Mrs. Hadamik will probably call the cops on the peeping tom, but remember as your knees cramp and sweat trickles down your forehead, it'll be well worth the hours of waiting). After you have the photographic evidence you will be well-armed to make a formal complaint with the authorities. That way your concern is on file and you can let the cops or animal control do the dirty work - that is if you manage to beat Mrs. Hadamik with your complaint to the police. Otherwise, a dog crapping on your lawn will be the least of your worries.