Doo-Doo Detectives

Big Brother is Watching Your Pup's Poops

The Déjà Digest
January 24, 2024

Background: In an era where our DNA can reveal everything from ancestral origins to predispositions for diseases, it’s next use might be a more down-to-earth (or perhaps, down-to-sidewalk) endeavor: tracking down and fining owners of dog poop. In Bolzano, an Italian province, the idea is straightforward: compare the DNA from left-behind dog waste to a DNA database. Once a match is found, the dog's owner can be identified and fined accordingly. The law in Bolzano required about 45,000 dogs to have a DNA test at a vet clinic before starting the new initiative this month. However, reports from the Italian media indicate that only about 5,000 dogs have undergone the test so far.

While Bolzano's dog DNA may have cracked the case of whodunnit in the poop department, it's not the only high-tech approach being taken to combat environmental negligence.

Deja Vu: Meet LitterCam, the AI cop with an eagle eye for license plates and a zero-tolerance policy for rogue soda cans. Eight councils across the UK are testing the technology, which is designed to spot pieces of rubbish being thrown from a car. It analyses CCTV footage, registers the car’s number plate in the case of a littering offense, and councils can then contact Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to help with the potential issuing of fines.

Fact: LitterCam isn’t just a trash tattletale. The software is assisting local authority officers with environmental monitoring. It can detect the density of detritus and its build up, or broken paving slabs, for example. Then, maintenance crews can be scheduled to clear locations in greatest need.

Quote: In 50 years, every street in London will be buried under nine feet of manure.

The London Times, 1894

This quote crystallizes The Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894. In the late 19th century horses were used for transportation and their waste was piling up on the streets. Estimates of close to 2.5 million! pounds of horse manure filled New York streets each day. An international urban planning conference convened in 1898, but failed to find a solution. Eventually, the rise of cars and other motorized vehicles solved the problem that didn’t seem to have a solution.

Profile: Chewing Gum Task Force

The CGTF is a £1.2 million initiative across the UK to fight the sticky scourge with a two-prong approach: clean-up and prevention. For clean-up, members of the task force sport a machine on their back that uses an eco-friendly detergent made from sugar beet to dissolve gum. These cleaners have earned the name ‘Gum Busters’.

For prevention, the task force is running campaigns reminding folks that gum belongs in bins. Think of it as those "chew responsibly" posters, but for grown-ups.

Early results from the CGTF are promising, with chewing gum littering dropping in some areas by 80%.

Timeline: Trash Day

1st Century AD, Rome: The infamous Cloaca Maxima, a vast sewer system, helps manage waste in the sprawling city.
1858: The Great Stink: The stench of the Thames overwhelms London.
1969: Keep America Beautiful campaign: Launch of a national anti-littering campaign in the United States.
1987: "Garbage barge" from New York City sails for weeks before finding a place to dispose of its waste, highlighting the global waste disposal crisis.

Recommended Reading: Litter-ology: Understanding Littering and the Secrets to Clean Public Places In Litter-ology, environmental psychologists Karen Spehr and Rob Curnow share their insights gained in over 20 years working on changing people’s disposal behavior in public places.

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