pollution
DNA test against dog poo – community wants to tackle the problem
In the Eifel municipality of Weilerswist, people are annoyed by the smelly heaps. photo
© Martin Gerten/dpa
The anger over dog poop is great. In the municipality of Weilerswist, the mayor is thinking of a remedy. She wonders if there can’t be a DNA test to find the owners through the dogs.
The municipality of Weilerswist in the west of Bonn wants to tackle a stinking problem with a DNA analysis: Mayor Anna-Katharina Horst wants to do something about dog waste on the streets and in parks.
Among other things, the non-party local politician asked the NRW Association of Towns and Municipalities whether a legal basis could be created to take DNA samples from dogs. In this way, it would be possible to determine which dogs caused the stinking piles – and which owners are responsible. Other communities are also interested in a solution, she reports.
“It is a fact that there are some dog owners who do not comply with the obligation to remove dog waste,” says the mayor of the Eifel municipality. Weilerswist is in the district of Euskirchen and has 17,500 inhabitants – but also 1,586 dogs. The politician says there are also piles in cemeteries and playgrounds. The employees of the building yard also suffer from the fact that, for example, green areas are misused as dog toilets, as she reports. A face mask is not enough to protect yourself from the raised feces – a visor is needed.
The reactions to her initiative were mixed, reports Horst, who grew up with dogs herself. “What matters to me is predominantly pro.” She wanted to get rid of dog poop from public spaces. Their motive is not to fill the municipal coffers. “I rely on a deterrent.”