Dog owners must be some of the most entitled, selfish people on the face of the planet.
Almost 60 per cent of pooch people would leave their pet’s droppings on the footpath if they could get away with it, according to a survey by corporate researcher Pureprofile.
It also found that of Gen Zers who did actually pick up their dog’s crap, 43 per cent would litter the bag if they didn’t find a bin within 15 minutes.
What on Earth is wrong with people?
One 22-year-old woman readily admitted to the News Corp papers this week that she walks on quieter paths where she can leave her dog’s dung because picking it up makes her gag and “the idea of someone remotely attractive walking past while I’m doing it is mortifying”.
“It’s gross and the thought of being portrayed as a dog poop wielding heroine is not very attractive,” she said.
Wait until she sees what happens when you have children.
I thought I’d seen the peaks of selfishness before but she proved me wrong.
That woman ought to have her dog confiscated and be chucked in a gulag for a year.
You don’t get to own a dog if you’re not willing to take the requisite responsibility.
If you choose to adopt a mendicant animal that requires you to pick up its turds, then that you must do.
There is nothing worse than being on a pleasant walk and stepping in crap because some lazy sod couldn’t be bothered dealing with their dog’s ablutions.
It happens with too much frequency for it to be an aberration – dog owners clearly have something wrong with them.
If you were caught short on a walk, and couldn’t get to a toilet, would you drop your dacks in the middle of the footpath and leave it there for other people to tread through?
Unless you’re a degenerate (and the jury is out on some dog owners) you’d hide in a bush and cover up after yourself. So why would you leave your dog’s jobs on the path or someone’s front lawn?
And it’s not just their refusal to clean up droppings.
They love their canines and they believe everyone else should, too.
The lead is extended to full length so the dog can roam all over the joint and get in the way of runners and cyclists while the owner has headphones on, oblivious to the rest of the world.
If the leash isn’t long, it isn’t on at all. Dogs bound up to, and terrorise, people. I don’t know how well-trained your dog is but I’m expected to assume I am safe.
Then your dog meets another dog and suddenly I’m at risk of hearing loss from the fracas.
An old colleague once spent a day at the beach and observed a group of young women taking a picnic. When they went for a swim, a loose dog sauntered up to their rug, proceeded to rip a whole roast chook out of a bag and ran off.
Dog owners – get your sh*t together.
Caleb Bond is a Sydney-based commentator and host of The Late Debate on Sky News Australia