Apooper-scooper, orpoop scoop, is a device used to pick up animalfeces from public places and yards, particularly those ofdogs. Pooper-scooper devices often have a bag or bag attachment. 'Poop bags' are alternatives to pooper scoopers, and are simply a bag, usually turned inside out, to carry the feces to a proper disposal area. Sometimes, the person performing the cleanup is also known as the pooper-scooper.
The invention is credited to Brooke Miller, ofAnaheim,California. The design shepatented is a metal bin with a rake-like edge attached to a wooden stick. It also includes a rake-like device to scoop the poop into the scooper and a hatch that can be attached to a garbage bag that fits onto the base. The generic termpooper-scooper has been included indictionaries since the early 1970s.
Around 1935, "Curb Your Dog" signs started appearing in NYC, initiating discussions and correspondence with theDepartment of Sanitation.[1]
The Village ofGreat Neck Estates was one of the earliest communities to enact a local ordinance, in 1975, requiring residents to remove pollution on private and public property caused by dogs.Murray Seeman, Jay S. Goodman and Howard Zelikow, advocated in the face of heated opposition.[2][3]
In 1978, New York State passed the Pooper-Scooper Law. It was so controversial thatMayor Koch needed theNew York State Legislature to pass it, after being unable to convince theNew York City Council.[4]The New York Times called actress andconsumer advocate Fran Lee "New York's foremost fighter against dog dirt".[5][6]
October 20, 1978,KQED San Francisco news footage featured scenes from aHarvey Milk press conference inDuboce Park in which he discussed the city's new "pooper scooper law" with a how-to demonstration.[7]
Marking the 25th anniversary of the Pooper-scooper law, NYC Mayor Ed Koch was quoted saying, "If you’ve ever stepped in dog doo, you know how important it is to enforce the canine waste law. New Yorkers overwhelmingly do their duty and self-enforce. Those who don’t are not fit to call friend."[8]
In 2018, theCity of San Francisco allocated budget funds in the amount of $830,977 to address this issue.[9]
A number of jurisdictions, includingNew York City, San Francisco andChicago have laws requiring pet owners to clean up after their pets:[10]
a) A person who owns, possesses or controls a dog, cat or other animal shall not permit the animal to commit a nuisance on a sidewalk of any public place, on a floor, wall, stairway or roof of any public or private premises used in common by the public, or on a fence, wall or stairway of a building abutting on a public .
Authorized employees of New York City Departments of Health (including Animal Care & Control), of Sanitation, or of Parks and Recreation can issue tickets.[11]
Such laws are often nicknamed "pooper-scooper laws", though the laws only stipulate that dog owners remove their dogs' feces, not the method or device used (thus using a hand-held plastic bag to remove feces complies with these laws).
Some apartment complexes, condos, and neighborhoods require residents to pick up dog poop and use DNA testing on poop to fine people who did not pick up after their pet.[12][13][14]
Dog droppings are one of the leading sources ofE. coli (fecal coliforms) bacterial pollution,Toxocara canis andNeospora caninumhelminth parasite pollution. One gram of dog feces contains over 20,000,000E. coli cells.[15] While an individual animal's deposit of feces will not measurably affect the environment, the cumulative effect of thousands of dogs and cats in a metropolitan area can create serious problems due to contamination of soil andwater supplies. The runoff from neglected pet waste contaminates water, creating health hazards for people, fish, ducks, etc.[16]
InGermany an estimated 1,400tonnes (1,500 short tons) of feces are deposited daily on public property. A citizen commission (2005) overwhelmingly recommended a plan that would break even at about seven months.DNA samples would be required when pet licenses come up for renewal. Within a year, a database of some 12,500 registration-required canine residents would be available to sanitation workers with sample-test kits. Evidence would be submitted to aforensics laboratory where technicians could readily match the waste to its dog. The prospect of a prompt fine equivalent to $600 US (at 2005 exchange rate) would help assure preventive compliance, as well as cover costs.[17]In adult dogs, the infection byToxocara canis is usually asymptomatic but can be fatal in puppies.[18][19] A number of variousvertebrates, including humans, and someinvertebrates can become infected byToxocara canis. Humans are infected, like otherparatenic hosts, by ingestion of embryonatedT. canis eggs.[20] The disease caused by migratingT. canis larvae (toxocariasis) results invisceralis larva migrans andocularis larva migrans. Clinically infected people havehelminth infection and rarelyblindness.[21]
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