John Kelly: More gripes about Washington area dog poop

I tapped into a festering cauldron of discontent with my Tuesday column about grass-roots efforts to clean up dog poop in Rock Creek Park. It seems the doggy doo epidemic has become a scourge all across the Washington area this winter.

Judy Starr lives in Potomac and is active in her neighborhood association. "I have two Westies and I walk them a lot," she wrote. "This a.m. I picked up five other dog poops. . . . We have sent out fliers reminding everyone that there's a $100 Montgomery County fine and also sent out individual violation letters. Nothing has worked yet."

Things are just as bad in Burke. "What does it take for people to show consideration for their neighbors, the environment and the aesthetics of their neighborhood?" wondered Michael Miller of the Wooded Glen development. "Clearly, some people need an education in etiquette and regard for others."

Rachel Gomez said the problem is out of control in her part of Annandale, too. "I can handle vandalism to our car, gang graffiti and people not shoveling their sidewalks but the one thing that makes me want to move from our townhouse community is when I step in dog doo. It's the Law of the Commons being totally disregarded."

Jeremy Wiley lives on Capitol Hill near Lincoln Park. "It continues to be a huge problem," he wrote. "I don't understand how such a highly educated population seems to think that dog poop will just melt away with the snow."

Then there are the people who bag their dog's waste but think your trash can, not theirs, is the best place for it. Wrote Jeremy: "I stopped a guy doing that the other night and asked him his address so I could bring my son's soiled diaper and drop it in his can."

Even worse are the people who bag their dog's poop then leave the bag there, as if it will be picked up later by forest sprites.

Donald Titus of Chevy Chase is a volunteer overseer for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club on the Valley Trail in Rock Creek Park. "I work on my trail about once a month," he wrote. "Every time that I go out there are at least several bags on the side of the trail. Other trail overseers and [National Park Service] personnel that I have met agree that this is their pet peeve."

Melitta Carter has noticed a "meteoric rise" in unpicked-up poop as she walks her two dogs -- a standard poodle and a Shih Tzu -- in North Bethesda. "I particularly worry that neighbors will see me with my dogs (quite recognizable) and wonder whether it is I who left them an unwelcome offering on their lawn," she wrote.

Melitta is English and wondered whether area jurisdictions could institute laws such as those in some parts of the United Kingdom, "where park rangers can fine any person with a dog who cannot show them two poop bags, either full or empty."

I hadn't heard of that, although last year a local government in England shocked residents with a poster showing a toddler sitting in a park near a pile of poop, her hands and lips smeared brown. "Children will put anything in their mouths" read the text.

Council member Dave Butt, of the Devon town of Torbay, told BBC News: "The poster was rather unpleasant, but helped drive the message home very forcibly. We did not have any complaints, but we did have people ringing us to say it was about time and they were pleased we went in so hard."

I'm all in favor of going in hard. How about a public awareness campaign of the sort Metro uses to encourage passengers to self-police the subway system. Instead of "Is that your bag?" it could be "Is that your poop?"

Maybe authorities could install "poop cameras," modeled on the speed cameras sprouting all over the area. Or better yet, how about a DNA registry linking poop to dog and dog to owner?

Finally, if you're someone who doesn't pick up your dog's poop, why not? I'd love to hear your reasons.

Banks that won't give change. Parking meters that take too much change. People who won't pick up poop. Chat with me about these annoyances and anything else on your mind, Friday at noon: http://www.washingtonpost.com/discussions.