The Great Debate: Dump Dog Doo In Someone Else’s Garbage?

A recent debate in the Hudson Valley has both sides getting heated. It all revolves around a Facebook post from a Dutchess county resident who was sick and tired of neighbors using his garbage can for one thing in particular.

"I love dogs, but that doesn't mean I want you to dump his poo in our garbage cans - seriously!", the post began. "Second time this has happened - what's up with that?" Commenters (from both sides) didn't hold back.

Hudson Valley, NY Reacts: Dog Poo in Residential Trashcans

"I live near the park, it’s a regular thing to find little bags of poo in my pails. Lazy? Yes, but at least they aren’t leaving it on the ground", observed a Beacon, NY woman. "I'd rather see it in my trash can (where trash belongs) than on the street/sidewalk", offered another. Not everybody was on the same page, however.

To Carry or Not to Carry

"Don't want your dog's poop in my trash can. Put it in your own", a Poughkeepsie, NY resident chimed in. "Just put a note on the garbage can saying : Smile! You're on RING [camera]. That might be a deterrent", said another. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this isn't the first "trash debate" to break out in the Hudson Valley.

Last year in Newburgh, NY, a question was posed by a resident who had seen their neighbor, who didn't pay for their own trash service, using nearby cans for household garbage. While many replied with more gentle solutions ("Just turn the cheek... Compassion and empathy go a long way"), others called it stealing ("tell her if she continues her actions, you will pursue criminal charges for theft of services"). Does dog doo fall under the same category?

The "Squish" Factor

Fair warning - this is gross - but the biggest reason for those who would like to keep dog poo out of their cans has to do with something that many dog owners can relate to: the squish factor. "Let me spell it out for you", the author wrote, "a heavy [garbage] bag falls on a smaller bag full of [dog doo]- now my garbage can is a toxic mess that I have to clean up." But there might be a solution...

My Solution

My two cents as a dog owner (not that you asked) falls somewhere in between. I take my puppy Arthur on a neighborhood walk nearly every morning, and every time he squats on someone else's lawn far away from our own trash can, I'm left with a decision: dump his doo in a different trash can, or carry it like groceries back to my own home.

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So here's my rule. Six days out of the week, I carry Arthur's tiny poos home, swinging in the breeze, and drop it in my own can. On trash days, however, when cans are out and ready to be collected, I will occasionally place a poo bag on top of the already-full cans, knowing it will be whisked away by our trash collectors within the hour. I think of is as a comp-poo-mise.