Dog owners in the southern French town of Béziers are to be required to carry their pet’s “genetic passport” in a trial scheme to reduce dog excrement on the streets.
Sounds....familiar, doesn't it, Reader? I think I know the French term for that..!
Local mayor Robert Ménard, a former journalist and co-founder of Reporters Sans Frontières, says inhabitants and visitors are fed up with faeces on the town’s pavements. He plans to introduce a two-year experiment to trace and fine those who fail to clear up after their pets.
A noble endeavour indeed!
“We have to punish to make people behave better,” Ménard, elected on a far-right ticket in 2014 and reelected in 2020, told France Bleu radio. Under the planned scheme, dog owners will be required to take their pets to a vet or ask one of the town’s veterinary specialists for a free saliva sample, which will be genetically tested and a document issued. Those subsequently stopped without their dog’s genetic passport will be fined €38 (£32.60).
'Papeiere, bitte, hund!'
It may not have worked back then in Essex, but dog owners in France were softened up for this during Covid lockdown, when anyone caught walking a dog without the appropriate official ‘attestation’ paperwork - including home address, date and time - could be fined up to €375.
ReplyDeleteI have vague recollections of a similar scheme being introduced in Germany maybe ten years ago.
ReplyDeleteAnd in parts of Nicoliar's Scotland isn't it an offence to walk the dog without a supply of dog bags?
Why do they want a sample of the vet's saliva? :)
ReplyDeleteConsidering how "diverse" most of France is (even more so than here) I wonder if this is, in part, to prove that our canine friends aren't the real culprits.
ReplyDeleteThat or a certain mayor has shares in, or a relative who owns, a testing lab.
Being cynical, I suppose you could embrace the power of 'and'.
"...dog owners in France were softened up for this during Covid lockdown..."
ReplyDeleteOh, yes! I'd forgotten that...
"And in parts of Nicoliar's Scotland isn't it an offence to walk the dog without a supply of dog bags?"
I think you're right. Though I doubt it's properly enforced.
"Why do they want a sample of the vet's saliva? :)"
🤣
"Considering how "diverse" most of France is (even more so than here) I wonder if this is, in part, to prove that our canine friends aren't the real culprits."
Eeeeewww!