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Monday, January 7, 2008

The Straight Poop

posted by on January 7 at 12:55 PM

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22nd Ave NW & NW 58th St

Ballard

For several months, residents of a quiet Ballard street have been plagued by poop. On 58th Avenue—between 22nd and 20th—nearly a dozen large piles of turds dot the parking strips and sidewalks, and there’s ample evidence of other leave-behinds, now marked by smeared shoe prints along the street.

Last weekend, an anonymous neighbor began posting signs around the block, in protest of the prodigious brown mounds.

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“It’s a minefield,” says Tom Simpson, a 15-year resident of 58th Ave. Simpson and his neighbors have speculated about the cause, and whether certain houses or apartment buildings are being targeted, and some residents have even debated whether the culprit is animal or man.

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“It’s disgusting and unsafe,” says Sylvia, who’s lived on 58th for the last five years. Sylvia says she sees lots of dogs in the neighborhood, and speculates that the problem may be coming from a nearby 35-unit apartment complex where, she says, every resident in the building has “2 or 3 dogs.”

Simpson walks his three dogs—a Pekingese, a Pug and a Chow, none capable of leaving such massive dog deposits—around the neighborhood every day, and he says this is the worst it’s ever been. “[There are piles] even I couldn’t leave behind,” Simpson says.

Simpson estimates the problem has been going on for a month or two, but it seems to have gotten better in the last few days. “Maybe the signs did some good.” he says.

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As Simpson continues down the block, pausing to pick up one of his own dogs’ piles, An older man, who’s lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, stands in front of the sign, looking it over. When asked about the poop problem, he pointed to a nearby apartment and blamed it on a Rottweiller which, he says, freely roams the neighborhood.

RSS icon Comments

1

SPD will get right on this!!!!!

Posted by M | January 7, 2008 1:05 PM
2

Modern world PROBLEMS OH THE HUMANITY

Posted by non | January 7, 2008 1:05 PM
3

If only dogshit was the biggest concern in my area. Anyone find that bearded guy with the bloody shirt and knife yet?

Posted by tsm | January 7, 2008 1:06 PM
4

Why not just outlaw pets outright in communities? How many plastic-sealed turd-bags are clogging up landfills thanks to our country's retarded mindset about these disgusting beasts living among us?

Posted by Pets are disgusting | January 7, 2008 1:06 PM
5

Pet owner: his/her; pet owners: their.
That is all.

Posted by MR. Language Person | January 7, 2008 1:08 PM
6

I can't find any reaction to this from Obama or Clinton or anybody. Are the presidential campaigns just going to ignore the dog poop in Ballard? Shows you where their priorities are, doesn't it?

It's time to look at a third party, folks. Are you with me?

Posted by elenchos | January 7, 2008 1:11 PM
7

I hear Ron Paul wants to arm people to deal with this, elenchos @6.

Anyone know what happens to kitty litter put in trash cans? Does it get sent overseas?

Posted by Will in Seattle | January 7, 2008 1:17 PM
8

I love cats. They hide their poop AND you don't have to make a special trip with them every morning and afternoon to do so.

Posted by monkey | January 7, 2008 1:30 PM
9

I want to know what JMR has to say about this.

Posted by kid icarus | January 7, 2008 1:41 PM
10

It is always lovely to see the vital issues of the day in North Seattle.

Posted by tiptoe tommy | January 7, 2008 1:46 PM
11

Now, about the cat poop that neighbors' cats leave daily in my yard. The real bane of Seattle's nightlife are the cats roaming the streets freely, their owners unaware that it is illegal for cats to be off leash as well, let alone poop in my daisy bed.

Posted by S. M. | January 7, 2008 1:56 PM
12

@11: Just a possible cautionary tale:

The free-range cats used to really grate at me, too, especially when it came time in the fall to dig up my potatoes. Finally, after some turnover amongst the neighbors, there was a period in my neighborhood when there were NO CATS to be heard or seen. I thought it was pure catless heaven.

Then the rats came. Rats really, really, really thrive in Western Washington. First they were in my bushes, then they ransacked my garden, my compost, my trashcan... then the roof, the basement... There was an old lady next door who moved out, she couldn't deal with all the rats.

Now I've got three indoor/outdoor cats in my house alone, and the neighborhood brims with acres and acres of many other people's cats. I haven't seen a rodent in five years.

I remind myself of That One Year When Everybody Had Rats every fall when I'm reaching into the dirt for new potatoes and pull up yet another goddamned cat fecum.

Nice kitties... nice kitties...

Posted by drewvsea | January 7, 2008 2:42 PM
13

You know, you can train your cat to use the toilet. A friend of mine did that, started the whole cat training thing ...

Posted by Will in Seattle | January 7, 2008 2:47 PM
14

Is this the most pressing issue in the world? No. But I have the exact same problem where I live in the U-District and let me tell you, it is REALLY annoying. Just recently, someone let their dog poop on my walk, which is my main entrance to my apartment, so I have to jump over dog poo every morning (it's smeared in and there's no hose, so I can't clean it off really).

I DON'T live in a third world country, so I don't want to have to dodge poop all the time! If you can't deal with your stupid dog's turds, you should not own a dog. I don't empty my cats' litter boxes on anyone's lawn, so they shouldn't let their dogs empty their colons on mine.

The best suggestion I've gotten is to pour bacon fat and gravy on the turds, so the dogs will clean up after themselves. And then hopefully vomit it up in their owner's house.

Posted by exelizabeth | January 7, 2008 2:56 PM
15

I never have any difficulty distinguishing between dog poop and human poop...

Because my dog doesn't try to eat dog poop.

Posted by Natalie | January 7, 2008 3:06 PM
16

Un-picked-up pet poop is also one of the major pollutants in Puget Sound - the rain washes all that poo and bacteria right into our water.

Posted by Sally | January 7, 2008 3:07 PM
17

Think of the ducks

Posted by People For Ethical Treatment of Salmon and Birds | January 7, 2008 5:08 PM
18

There is a pug dog in that picture. Pug dogs are stinky, snorty, poo-poo makers.

Hi, pug dog!

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | January 7, 2008 10:33 PM
19

Clearly this is the fault of Bush. If he didn't steal the election and Gore was in office, all the hard ass republicans would have already left town and nobody would give a shit about dog shit. Clearly Dr. Phillip J. Ron Paul III (dem) will take charge and work with the staunch capitalist Paul Allen to ban all small dogs from Ballard. With Dr. Paul (PhD), Sir Allen, and Mayor Double-Rail, we will have a dog shit free society.

But seriously, have you considered this could be coyote shit, or are all you guys now anti-coyote too? You guys gonna make me clean up after my pet coyote too? Assholes.

I swear I've seen those exact dogs a few blocks off Bellevue Ave.

PS: What this city needs more than Crocodile Bars or Sunset Bowls is more fucking garbage cans! If they had a garbage can on every other street corner in the city, I bet the dogshit problem would just about disappear. I'm serious about the garbage cans, when I'm finally elected, it will be my first action as mayor.

PPS: Ever wonder what the ratio of dogshit-to-garbage is in the waste baskets in public parks? I bet they are about 75% dogshit and 25% "real" waste.

Posted by Son of Dr. Cortez. | January 8, 2008 7:44 AM

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