Bringing your own bags to pick up after your dog has long been considered the first and best option for dog owners and walkers around the city.
But now, lawmakers are looking to implement a decent number two.
The City Council is weighing a bill that would require the Department of Sanitation install and regularly fill dog waste bag dispensers on or next to all public litter baskets on city streets. The law’s main sponsor, Councilmember Julie Menin – who represents the Upper East Side – said she wants dog owners to have no excuse when it comes to picking up after their pets.
“It’s going to be pretty embarrassing when you’ve got someone who has a dog, and their dog goes to the bathroom on the street, and you don’t pick up when a couple feet away there is a dog waste bag,” she said in an interview.
If the bill becomes law, the new infrastructure would be accompanied by a public awareness campaign in collaboration with the Department of Health on the negative public health consequences that dog waste can have. Despite assertions that dogs are more intelligent than cats, the species has not evolved to the point where it can effectively use a bathroom facility.
According to Menin’s office, the city’s dog population produces 27,000 tons of excrement annually.
“It’s not only a quality of life issue, it’s also a health issue, because dog waste contains all sorts of bacteria that are extremely harmful to people and also to young children,” Menin said.
At a committee hearing on the bill this week, DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch said she agreed with the “spirit” of the bill, but suggested the dispensers be attached to more fixed street infrastructure.
“The litter baskets … they move a lot,” Tisch said. “I mean we have light poles, we have street poles, we have benches. I think that picking a permanent structure that is not movable, i.e. one that is capitally eligible, is the right way to achieve the goal that we share.”
And do New Yorkers have opinions on dog doo disposal? Oh, yes.
“I think there’s just a lot of irresponsible pet owners that are not taking care of their animals that are just leaving dog waste all over the place,” said Upper East Side resident Danielle Avissar during the hearing.
She says the great doggie boom occurred during the pandemic when people were home on lockdown feeling isolated. Menin’s office estimates there are more than 500,000 dogs in the city.
“It really degrades our neighborhoods,” Avissar went on. “We’re constantly looking down. We can’t look up. We can’t look up at the buildings and appreciate any of the beauty around us. I’m constantly telling my kids to dodge buckets of waste that we see on the street.”
Further downtown, Greenwich Village resident Holly Howe is a fan of the idea. She was walking her dog Brioche recently when she ran out of the doggy bags she usually keeps in a dispenser attached to her leash.
“It’s not like I’m not trying to be responsible, it’s just sometimes she goes more than I think she will, and I’m out of bags” she said. “So if she were to go again, I would be in search of a bag, and so having one on the trash cans would be great.”
But fellow Greenwich Village dog owner Brian May was less optimistic.
“I think that the people who are responsible bring bags with them. People who aren’t responsible aren’t going to walk down to the end of the street and get a bag,” he said. “I expect it’ll be one of those efforts where there’s fanfare and a big rollout and then it falls apart after a while because nobody cares.”