Bad Dog (Owners) NYC
There are currently over 14,000 dog licenses registered within a ball-toss of the West Village.
Now that’s a lot of dogs, and a lot of daily outings, and A LOT of pee-pee!
Fortunately, our four-legged friends and their caregivers are overwhelmingly responsible, rule-abiding folks who appreciate a nice, cleaner (ahem) Village for everyone. And as the soles of our shoes can attest, the ground is much less soiled than decades past. Not perfect, but far improved.
Unfortunately, it only takes a few scofflaws to really muck things up for the entire community. Squish!
There are multiple nearby dog-runs—we know, never enough—but (life being soooo unfair), there are also some places that dogs are not supposed to go (in every sense), both because of plantings and so that children and their elders can enjoy unsullied grass.
Leash-holders may justify using green plants as a toilet because they “pick it up,” or “the pee will dry,” but we notice they tend not to sit upon the damp spot, or lay out on the lawn on sunny days, or allow their toddlers to crawl around where the cute doggy just made a stinky mess. (Not to mention the people who don’t bother to pick-it-up because they think nobody is looking, or Fido had diarrhea. Yuk!)
Some pet-loving neighbors, weary of admonishing those few determined miscreants who insist on training their pups to doo-doo on the forbidden grass (or pee on the flowers, or dig up the lawn), have begun documenting the misdeeds online: instagram.com/baddognyc
Our Motto: a well-behaved dog is a well-cared for dog!
Shaming people never solves a problem or issue. It’s a reflection of immaturity and/or a lack of education on how to have a constructive conversation to solve a problem.
14,000 dogs licensed in the West Village! (As only a fraction of dog owners license their dog – we have a lot of dogs here – a huge amount of our population are dog owners.) Do you realize how much waste that is? What a group of great neighbors as it is only a few that are so inconsiderate to not pick up after their dog. Too bad other subgroups of our society are not as conscientious!
I went to your instagram but only 4 or 5 dogs are actually relieving themselves. Why not take photos of people relieving themselves in the Hudson River park in the evening when the bathrooms are closed? (I will not lay down on the grass there unless I have something to lie on.) Have you spied on people in your park in the evening?
Why pick on dog owners who are left out as far as recreational facilities? For instance, I love to sit and relax on a lawn with my dog but there is no where to legally do so downtown. You take pix of people calmly sitting with their dog – shame on them – sitting on a lawn with their dog – what lawbreaking lowlifes! Ridiculous.