Park View, D.C.

Neighborhood signage about pet waste

Dog waste that is left on sidewalks and in the parking along streets continues to be a bit of a community problem. While this can be particularly nasty in the winter, now that warmer weather is here the issues of children’s health and providing food for rats become ever-increasing problems.

I’m encouraged that the neighbors I’ve spoken with who tend to be the angriest about unclaimed excrement tend to have dogs themselves and tend to speak out when they witness someone not doing their civic duty.

There are a couple of ways that this issue has been addressed, but I personally wonder how effective any of them are. The area has several locations where signage is posted. The triangle park at Park Place and Rock Creek Church Road has a sign as do several locations in lower Park View — specifically along Irving and Kenyon Streets. The most effective method tends to be just calling a transgressor out when you see it, but even that can sometimes lead to altercations.

Below is a more passive attempt by a resident on Irving Street who decided the posted signage wasn’t enough. Their strategy?:

1) Place homemade “Pick Up After your Dog. It’s the Law” signs at ground-level; and,

2) Provide FREE plastic bags to assist pet owners.

"Pick up after your dog. Take a plastic bag."

The Department of Public Works, on the other hand, created the flier below to address the issue. Clicking on the image will get you both English and Spanish versions. Yet again, I wonder how effective they are since I don’t recall ever seeing them distributed publicly.