Dear Editor:
Tim Carroll’s article in the October 6th Midweek Reporter, “Rules of the Dog Park,” primarily focused on Hoboken’s dog runs. Like Mr. Carroll, I also want to address a “canine” issue. However, this problem isn’t just contained to the dog runs; it’s an ongoing dilemma that has been plaguing Hoboken’s sidewalks for years: dog poop.
On April 7, 2004, I addressed the City Council and proposed the following solution: amend the city’s ineffective “Pooper Scooper” statute to include mandatory DNA samples of registered dogs, create a DNA database, and use this database to track down irresponsible dog owners. Unfortunately, my suggestion was politely dismissed.
On October 2, 2005, in The New York Times Magazine’s “Freakonomics” column, co-authors Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt borrowed my proposal and pondered its implementation in New York City. However, although they did credit me, exposure in the publication brought me no closer to achieving my goal.
In March 2006, in the “Briefs” column of the Reporter, Hoboken’s Health Department announced plans for stricter enforcement of the city’s “Pooper Scooper” law, with David Roberts declaring: “Quality of life has been a main goal of this [his] administration, and adherence to something as basic as cleaning after your dogs can make a difference.” Sounded nice, didn’t it? But where were the results?
On June 21, 2007, the Jersey Journal reported that the City Council had unanimously voted to allow the city to post pictures of “Pooper Scooper” violators on its official website. Once again: a valiant idea, but no results. Nobody’s picture was ever posted.
In September 2008, Mr. Dubner praised Tika Bar-On, a veterinarian in Israel, for putting his idea into practice. Subsequently, in the “Eighth Annual Year in Ideas,” New York Times reporter Rebecca Skloot lauded Dr. Bar-On’s successful implementation of the first-ever DNA Poop database. I hate to say “I told you so,” but, “I told you so!”
On Wednesday, October 21, 2009, I plan to reintroduce my idea to the City Council. Specifically, I’m going to point out that amending the statute has the potential to bring greatly needed revenue to our economically stressed city. The parking authority produces a substantial amount of revenue each year, collected through the enforcement of the city’s parking laws. An effectively enforced “Pooper Scooper” law can have the same results. Wouldn’t it be nice to introduce revenue into Hoboken through funds that aren’t achieved at the expense of already heavily burdened tax payers and property owners?
A twelve-year-old once proposed a fail-safe approach as a solution to a quality of life issue. However, much like the law she was trying to change, she was ignored. How sad is it to now know that what she suggested has been implemented somewhere else by someone else? On October 21, I ask my fellow Hobokenites to join me in the fight to not only clean up our sidewalks and park lawns once and for all, but also to ensure that Hoboken is first, even if it’s only nationwide.
Lauren Mecka