Pierrefonds bylaw may stink, but it’s not as bad as poo on your shoe

Maybe, as one interview subject suggested, it was a case of a few bad-apaple owners spoiling the dog-walking bunch, but a heavy volume of complaints from Roxboro to western Pierrefonds suggests otherwise.

What’s more likely is, Pierrefonds dog owners, after years of having their canine pals banned from neighbourhood parks, got a little too frisky. Sometimes all it takes is for one unleashed dog to knock over a kid or for one dog owner to figure no one will step in or notice Rover’s stinking pile of waste for everything to go south.

And south it has gone. Dogs walked in parks could fetch their owners a $50 fine for a first offence and fine ranging up to $2,000 for recidivist offenders could potentially be levied.

The straight poop

A pile of dog waste might well be the most reprehensible thing going. Sure, cleaning a baby’s diaper can also be gross, but at least you don’t have to carry it around like a souvenir in search of a garbage can on walks.

Dog ownership is a right, but it should really be a privilege reserved for those who will pick up after their dog hikes up his uglies and does his business - wherever that may be.

There’s nothing as special as watching a child run up and down a soccer field in the quest for athletic glory, but watching them come up covered in dog poo is a far more special sight altogether

Some municipalities might take restrictions on dogs and cats a bit far — witness the Dollard des Ormeaux bylaw requiring residents to keep their cats on leashes — but by and large, the dog-ownership social contract remains in place.

Keep your dog on the leash, keep it away from people who don’t want to be bothered by them, and pick up after them.

It’s one thing to love your dog, but it’s another to respect your neighbour’s right to live as though your dog doesn’t exist. Not everybody loves them, and dog owners (who are usually dog lovers as well) need to be cognizant of that particular notion.

Some are often blind to it.

“What do you mean, you don’t like dogs? Everybody likes dogs!”

Well, not everybody. And fewer people still love the idea of stepping in a fresh, steaming pile of their business with their work shoes on.

For dogs’ sake, clean up after yourselves.