Dear Annie: I live in a nice neighborhood in a modest-sized city. This is a dog-rich environment, with most of my neighbors owning and frequently walking their dogs. I have two, which flourish in my yard, and we rarely walk.
My problem is one neighbor who loiters with her dog at the spot where the alley that runs past my house meets the street. I have watched her wait there for five or 10 minutes until her dog does its business. Now, here’s the kicker; she never picks up the waste. Once the dog is finished, she leads it back homeward.
Annie, that is a heavy-traffic area, and the sidewalk crosses the alley at this point. She will sometimes walk her dogs right into the middle of the street. Once I was out working in my yard and asked, in the nicest way I could, why she did this. She said it was so that her dogs would not be exposed to lawn chemicals. I guess she prefers the chance they get run down to the possibility of chemical harm.
Is there some appropriate and kind way to suggest she pick up the dog waste — as all other dog walkers do? While I find this common nuisance disgusting and anti-social, I don’t want to make a police report since that seems like overkill. — Grossed Out
Dear Grossed: I’m not sure what state you are in, but in many states there are Pooper Scooper laws, which state that all pet owners must remove and clean up all fecal matter left by their dog on public and private property. So, you are within your rights to let a local police officer know.
As far as not wanting to walk on lawns, I am sympathetic to the argument that some lawns have pesticides that are harmful not only to pets but to humans as well. Walking in the middle of the street is clearly dangerous. Getting run down by a car is certainly more dangerous than lawn chemicals. Ideally, she could find a park or a hiking trail to take her four-legged friends.
Dear Annie: This is regarding “Frustrated Papa,” who wrote about his daughter who had two children with “Marcus.” I was surprised that, given his track record (Marcus had cheated WITH his daughter, which resulted in their first child, and now Marcus has cheated on her at least a dozen times in the past three years), that you didn’t suggest that “Frustrated Papa’s” daughter should get tested regularly for sexually transmitted diseases.
It should be fairly obvious that Marcus doesn’t seem to care about protection, and “Papa” should be concerned about his daughter’s health. — Get Tested
Dear Get Tested: That is a great point, and it should have been as obvious to me as it was to you. Thank you for writing in.
Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.
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