THANK YOU FOR NOT SMOKING LETTING YOUR DOG POO ON OUR LAWN

DC has tackled the issue of smoking in bars and restaurants. But what about dog poop and urine? Some owners responsibly pick up after their dogs' poo, but many others don't. More than being unsightly and the killer of plants, dog waste can cause disease, groundwater pollution and attract rats, which eat the stuff.

But for many dog owners any talk about managing the problem leads first to denials that there is a problem, assertions that others don't understand and then just plain old disbelief.



While some might argue there is no problem, one only has to look at the small park at 17th and New Hampshire Ave. for evidence that things in some places have gotten out of hand. Back in the 1980s, this park was overrun with drunken Hispanic men who used the park as their personal urinal. So the park was "renovated" and the shubbery and benches removed to discourage this bad behavior.

Fast forward to this past Sunday, and see above how the park looks now. Lovely isn't it? Makes you long for the days when Tecante empties were strewn everywhere rather than Baby Ruth- looking turds. Barely no plant life survives this lunaresque environment. Dogs are off their leashes. No one, except dog owners and their pooches, can enjoy such a place, if enjoy is the right word given the sorry state of things.

C'mon MPD, if you are not writing traffic tickets on Sundays in Logan Circle, how about enforcing the leash and pooper-scooper laws. For that matter, how about the dog owners giving us non-dog owners a break.