Pet Peeves: What's the Scoop with Your Street?

Just after Halloween I put up a story about callous neighbors who make all of us (pet owners) look bad. By not picking up after their dogs, lazy pet owners make the neighborhood dirtier, smellier, more prone to infections.

Bad pet owners also bring out negative feelings toward those of us who are responsible pet owners. 

So, it's a few weeks later and I'm walking one block from the house sporting that sign that requests neighbors to stop dropping their droppings without scooping up those toppings. And what's happening? A fight.

In a courtyard, just beyond where OP is sniffing, a mock courtroom is underway. The topic? Dog Doo.

Characters: Landlady, firty-five, thick accent, funny Marge Simpson-esque hairdo; Tenant One (M), lady in her thirties; Tenant Two (K), lady in her forties.

LANDLADY: "Now, M_________, I have to side with K_________ here! Her dog is not even big enough to have made that mess."

M: "Yes. It's her dog's mess!"

K: "My dog is almost the same size as that mess--"

LANDLADY: "There is no way K's dog is the culprit."

M: "My dog is not responsible." 

K: "I bought the scooper, I bought the can, I monitor my doggy..."

LANDLADY: "We need both of you to keep cleaning up--" 

K & M (in unison) "I did clean up--"

And so on.

A fight between two attractive women, each living in the same bungalow complex, each sharing a courtyard with a scoop and a can. Somebody decided to let things go for a few days, and the poop hit the fan with the other neighbors and with the landlady. 

The landlady is now playing Judge Judy, and there is an open reality show taking place in the courtyard. I walk past, catching this scene just as I was asking myself, "I wonder how the neighbors are doing now with picking up after their dogs?"

The issue is ongoing. There are more messes on my street tonight than I care to mention. It was too dark to film all of them. And you probably don't need another Dog Doo video.

Most streets in Studio City are looking pretty good today; on my patrol along Ventura Boulevard I noticed dozens of cool-looking pets and owners but not many uncleaned messes. I haven't walked Sherman Oaks in three days. I walk in North Hollywood everyday, and it needs work in many of the neighborhoods. 

Let us know how your street (and neighborhood) is doing.