Dog owner who never picks up poop - what to do?

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
I have a neighbour who I see walking his dog several times a day past my house.

Every morning, without fail, he lets his dog poop on the grassy verge, and does not collect it.

I'm hesitant to approach him directly for several reasons:

a) I can't speak italian yet

b) there is risk in not knowing how he will respond. He knows where I live, and knows that I also have a dog

I don't know his name, nor exactly where he lives, although it's obviously nearby.

Is there something I can do? Should I just leave it alone?

Thoughts welcome.

2
Personally, I wouldn’t get involved! Best not to make enemies when you’re new!

3
You could be like my girlfriend who picked it up and chased her neighborhood offender with it!

Those kind of people ruin it for responsible dog owners like my friend, very frustrating. You could report it to the police without the offender knowing it was you. I am not sure if there is a fine for this in Ticino, there is where I have lived.

Good luck!

4
The first and simplest act would be to make a sign or two and put it on the grass saying something like "Please pick up your dogs poop". Then watch out of the window and see what happens.

Yeah and risk the chance of getting assaulted when the man you do not know who you chase is provoked into reacting violently? Not very smart.

5
I love it! I will do this - thank you

I applaud your friend's bravery, SusieQ! But I'm aligned with Chuff, I'm not willing to put myself at risk like that

6
I would not hesitate to tell them in a friendly manner to pick up their dog's shit. If you're close by you can kindly offer them a bag and a smile, 'nuff said.

It's happened to me where my dog was off the leash and poo'd without me seeing, someone else saw it and let me know without offense and I could clean it up.

7
You might want an Italian speaker to write this for you, don’t rely on google translate etc.

8
Follow them home and then return the poop to their doorstep.

Or if you're feeling brave, add your own.

9
Here's hoping the Ticino folks will weigh in, as it seems that down south is a whole 'nother world from my little corner of rule-bound SZ.

Whenever there is conflict involving dogs, I'd first try to get a read on local attitudes - and local 'hierarchies'. You don't want to start your Ticiino adventure out by getting into a conflict where rules might be seen differently through local eyes.

---

Around here, in rule-bound SZ, how I react depends on where I am and who the offender is. If I am on the trails, I politely call out to the errant owner, 'Oh, maybe you might not have seen...", which is usually enough to elicit a shame-faced thank you, and hopefully better behavior in the future.

We live in a rigid rule bound society, but as an outsider - which I still am after 20+ years - solving problems still requires diplomacy and face-saving.

In my own Quartier there is one Swiss gentleman who refuses to pick up. His behavior won't change, no matter what anyone says or does. So because he makes all dog owners look bad, I just pick up after him whenever I see it.

This is a choose your battles thing. I can't change the behavior of the defiant dog owner, but I can do something to ease tensions between dog-owning and dog-hating neighbors. Which, playing the long game, is an ultimate win for me.

But again... as we have seen many times on this forum, TI isn't SZ.

10

Thank you very much all. The frustrating thing is that there is literally a robisack stand on the verge where his dog poops

I have no intention of getting into a confrontation with this person. But it’s definitely not a case of ‘he didn’t see it.’ He watches it happen every morning and then simply walks away.

Ha, isn’t that the truth!! the cultural differences here have really been quite fascinating after a year in Basel!!

Thanks MC and everyone. I don’t have the ability to communicate effectively enough with my neighbours yet to get their take, but I can infer from the fact that everyone else picks up theirs that this gent is an anomaly.

I will put up a polite sign asking owners to collect, and then I’ll see whether he reacts when he sees it tomorrow morning. If there’s no change, I’ll simply accept that he’s not going to change, a la MC’s neighbour.

On a related note, I came across this article where an Italian town was using DNA samples to track down owners who don’t pick up! https://abcnews.go.com/International…ry?id=57119869

11
I don't recommend it either, my comment was meant for humour more than as a recommendation ...

12
My first reaction was to tell him to " vai a cagare " but I guess that's actually the problem here.

13
What would Ticino Tom do?

14
I'd take a photo of the dog, the owner and the bin (preferably all in one pic) and send it to the Gemeinde and the local police, if possible with the name of the offender (the man, not the dog).

Repeat over several days for greater impact.

15
The rules here are just like anywhere else in Switzerland, and just like anywhere else, there are people who don't care! And that fact that there is a supply of bags nearby only underscores this.

Next time you see him, you can yell:

"Ha dimenticato qualcosa?" - Have you forgotten something?

"Raccogliere la cacca!" - Pick up the poo (and you can add "per favore" if you feel like it).

He will probably shrug at you and tell you to "stay calm" (as someone did my wife one day when they parked in front of our gates blocking us in - which only made the situation worse). But just stand your ground. You aren't going to make any enemies of normal people, and if the guy with the dog doesn't think you are friendly, well it's no loss to you, is it?

16
My reluctance around engaging with him is coming more from a self-preservation aspect. I'm haunted by the story of a neighbour who had a disagreement with their neighbour on the other side. I have no clue what it was about, but the end result was that Neighbour X threw poisoned steak across the fence, killing the other woman's dog.

Obviously that is a terrible and extreme case, but I have no way of knowing whether this guy is a psycho or not. It's unlikely, but remains a risk I'm unwilling to take.

ETA: but thanks for your input, and particularly the right words in italian

2nd edit: when, in the history of humanity, has telling anyone (particularly a woman) to 'calm down' ever actually resulted in someone calming down?

17
Shoot it.

18
I've seen dog and cat repellents in pet shops. Apparently those products are used to train them. Since I don't have a dog, don't know for sure if those products work, do they?

19
Then cook it, maybe put some in salami.

20
This often works. When people know their actions are being noted, they take a bit more care. I've seen the turds highlighted using (environmentally friendly) paint when on vegetation, or chalk when on the pavement.

But you're armed with dog poop! And anyway his behaviour risks the chance of being assaulted by any number of people who object to it.