A French mayor was getting exhausted with poop everywhere in the historic town center. There were brown piles of dog waste in every direction and the smelly streets were starting to get on his nerves. Previously, when he has spotted irresponsible owners slipping away without picking up after their dogs, he would call them out. There were even times when he bent down to pick it up himself.
Now as a possible solution mayor of Béziers, Robert Ménard, has put in place a policy where dogs walking on the busy streets must have their DNA on file with the local government. Dog walkers are required to keep “passports” as evidence that they are following the rules. If dog poop is spotted, the city will take the waste to test it to find out which dog did it and the owner will be traced to clean up the mess.
Ménard, a former journalist, stated that people not picking up after their dogs is a reflection of a lack of civility in France. He believes if officials do not act to impose laws around this problem, there will be no motivation for people to act in the good of the community.
This temporary test kicks off this month and will last until July 2025. Residents in Béziers will be expected to walk around with the appropriate document proving that they registered their dog’s DNA when walking in main streets of the city.
Following a two-month grace period, dog owners who do not hold a passport will be fined $43. If poop is found and are linked to a particular dog, that owner will be responsible for covering the city’s cleaning service which costs $136.
The implementation process is still up in the air with the city proposing plans to set up labs to test the dogs’ samples. The municipality has yet to determine the accuracy of the DNA test results and costs.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/20/dogs-beziers-france-poop-passports/