I have a dog, so I think I am even more entitled to be annoyed at this.
Why do dog owners refuse to pick their dogs poo up when its in the park (in a forest or in the back of nowhere I can understand) but in a park!!!!
What makes it worse, is that the these are provided


There's even a bag for s sake, right above the bin, and it has a dog on it, the hints are all there.
In England it used to bug me, but in Switzerland there is simply no excuse.

Exhibit A:


I was gonna post more exhibits, but to be fair I think 1 does the job (boom boom!!!)
I had to tell an old women off for not picking up exhibit A this morning. She looked at me like I was a moron, and actually refused...so I had to pick it up.
Not a habit I want to develop, picking up other dogs poo.
Bah!!! really bugs me.


Edit : I should also point out I had the camera with me because it was a nice morning, I am not some weird specialist into photgraphing dog poo.

About the camera: I don't believe you.

And I pick up my dog shit. Before complaining, please visit Amsterdam for a slippery-shoe-moment - certainly on the streets here, there almost isn't any dog crap.

And why is there an excuse in England for this but not here?

True the streets are great, nothing worse than stepping on a unseen turd, no complaints there, just a shame it can't be continued on into the parks.

Confused point, its not ok in England. I was just saying that the Swiss have even less of an excuse for not clearing up after their dog because they are provided with free bags...which incidentally is the best thing ever.

Geneva is a sticky, smelly mess because of dog turds.

I nearly clocked a guy having his dog take a dump right in front of me, on the pavement then walk out as it is the most normal thing to do...

If they ever invent anti-gravity, it'll come out of a French town to enable one to float over the dog shite.

The UK is a hole, but the streets are mostly dog doo-doo free...

I can sympathise with you Planthead.

I would have taken a pic of the old dear and told her that a copy was being forwarded to the Gemeinde (council offices). I've done similar in the past (although not poo related) and the offender has always acquiesced.

Another thing. About two months ago I was out early morning with my dog and she started to do her business right beside a "poo collection point".

I searched feverishly for a bag but didn't have one on me. The bag dispenser was also empty and I thought I'd have to run home (about 200 meters away) to get one. Just then an old fogey lumbers towards me. Our conversation (in German) went something like this.

Him: "Your dog is messing on the floor"

Me: "I know"

Him: "You'll have to pick it up"

Me:"Yes I know, but there aren't any bags"

Him: "Yes, the foreigners steal them."

Me: "Really?"

Him:"Yes but I don't know what for. Anyway, I have some on me"

He pulled a great big bunch out of his coat pocket and gave me about five!!

I was tempted to tell him that it seems not only to be the foreigners who nick them.

Hey, do I get points for actually buying poobags?

My poo bags are better than yours!!
Mine are smelly to protect my sensitive nose.

Edit: thinking about it, I probably should enphasis mine as in for the dog..damn it.

Planthead, I am totally with you on this point - yuck! However, I beseech you: no more pictures of poo one is absolutely enough

One of my daughter's first phrases: "Dog Poop" That's one for the baby book, for sure.

LOL

I share this annoyance, but do have to say that in general in our area people do a pretty good job of picking up. We have one or two offenders that consistently leave large piles on the path which annoys me hugely! But the "off roaders" annoy me too, as at least on the path I can see it and direct my toddler around it. What's really annoying is if she gets off the path and ends up with poo all over her shoe. Anyone with a toddler knows how hard it is to keep them from touching the bottom of their shoes. Visions of e-coli dancing through my head. Ahh the joys of parenthood that no one ever tells you about.

For our two dogs, we buy our own bags, use the ones provided if we've run out, pick up the occasional pile that someone else left (if it's near where our girls have elected to make a deposit), and have apparently inadvertently trained our two-year old to serve as a public conscience by declaring loudly every time she sees a pile on the public paths: "Dog Poop" .

I don't believe the situation is any better or worse in Switzerland than in other countries is it?

Certainly the prospect of walking a dog and having to clutch its warm poos with nothing but a thin plastic bag between it and my hand has successfully quelled any canine ambitions I might have had.

As a regular walker, I have toyed with the idea of carrying a fluorescent spray can with me to tint uncollected dog dos. The idea would be to a) warn other walkers and b) maybe shame dog owners when they next pass by their doggies newly brightened poo.

However, knowing Switzerland, these bright coloured paint marks on the ground are usually converted to huge holes within a couple of weeks...

It certainly is a lot worse in Geneva than it is in any British city I have been AbFab and by quite a margin. My fellow Genevans are a right bunch of inconsiderate oaf when it comes to letting their dogs poo on the pavement.

Feel free to frame this post of mine, for once I don't defend Switzerland

Who says Geneva IS Switzerland? It is actually almost France...

Just as Zurich is almost Germany and Lugano almost Italy, eh? <sound of can of worms opening>

Those Swiss-Romand of the more provincial parts of the area (anywhere outside Geneva basically ) do indeed like to assimilate us to our French neighbours.

Don't know about Lugano, but in Zurich, Germany is not all that popular... In Geneva, en contraire (hope the spelling is not too messed up), people don't mind being associated with France...

AHEM.....

No Balerina, people DO mind being associated with the French in Geneva, not only "proper" Genevans but also those born there of foreign parents, you should hear some of my Geneva-born Italian, Portuguese and Spanish mates on that subject...

It generally is lighthearted but do NOT under ANY circumstances start to say to a Genevan that he is a bit French, unless you want to be in for an interesting debate

More seriously, there is a great chippiness amongst the Suisse-Romand when it comes to France, the cultural differences are there but they are hard to detect for someone who has not been raised or lived there for a long time. A good example for the Brits on here would be to compare the Swiss-French to the Scots and the French to the English. When I was in Stuttgart for France-Switzerland, you could tell how for the Swiss-Germans this was merely just a big game and for us it was much, much more than that with banners, t-shirts and chants making it clear how we would LOVE it if we beat them. The French were quite shocked by this actually.

Come on out to the Reusstal in Aargau and enjoy the enormous amount of horse crap everywhere. They don't even have to legally clean it up. On the other hand, I've yet to see any evidence of dog poo in Baden/Wettingen or down here.

Ha ha, love the thread... having lived in NL, I know the true meaning of dog poop!

I proudly pick up the poop from our dog, but avoid costly poop scoopers in favour of scented nappy sacks... far less dosh per 100.

As for the warming factor... if it's winter, use it to keep your hands warm until you reach a collection bin, if it's summer simply tie a knot and hold it by the most remote point of the bag.

Finally - poop on shoes - a total nightmare, but after experiencing too much I discovered what I think is the best solution... simply take the offending shoe(s) to the toilet and use the toilet brush to clean them.

Wow ExoticLatic, what you are describing is exactly what happened last year in Zurich at Italy-Germany. We watched the game in a pub and my German boyfriend was shocked by all the Swiss people rooting for Italy and being totally against Germany.