There is often a debate raging regarding whether or not dog fouling should be combated by penalising irresponsible owners or educating them.
Paris has featured on this bog before and appears to be aiming for the title of dog poo capital of Europe. In Europe we have a long history of criminalising anything, which involves more than merely walking along and breathing at a set rate. Hence, the new mayor of Paris, Jean Tiberi, has put aside concerns that every dog owner is a potential voter and has vowed to engage in rigorous enforcement activity. John Lichfield, a reporter for
The Independent appears to live in Paris and testifies to the colourful nature of the streets. He quotes a M Midel, who has two small children. He says that he, like all Parisian parents, has taught them to walk like Parisians, not like tourists. "When we go into town, I don't say to them, `look how beautiful the streets are', or `look at the wonderful shop window'. I say, `look down and look ahead or you will stand in the
crottes de chien".
While this represents the "stick" aspect, I like the "carrot" from New York. While you cannot look down in New York any more than you can in Paris, they have a different approach. They have the fantastic idea of poo bags with bar codes, which can be scanned and exchanged for coupons (poopons). See the explanation below.
Quite frankly I would, personally speaking, gather up a load of the bags and divide my daily deposit three ways every morning. That way I'd be looking at a free coffee every lunch time!
To round off, a mortgage company advert in the US has nothing to do with the above theme but I feel that it adds considerably to the debate!