Dog poop mess getting commissioners’ attention

While walking along the Ocmulgee River Heritage Trail, Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Elaine Lucas says she has to be a careful where she steps.

Macon-Bibb County officials said Tuesday that they hope to promote a change of culture where people become more likely to pick up poop left by their pets throughout public areas. From educating residents to having more places set up to clean up after animals, officials said they’ll take a varied approach to a foul situation.

Lucas said it’s not uncommon for pet owners to leave dog poop on the ground around the river walk.

“You don’t want to walk in doggy doo either,” she said Tuesday. “The health department has listed a number of diseases that can be contracted by people and other animals from waste.

“It’s not a pretty subject, but it’s one that we need to talk about.”

While Macon-Bibb’s codes address the issue, the problem arises in having to “catch the people in the act or have citizens willing to testify in court that they witnessed the events,” Assistant County Attorney Crystal Jones said.

But in other communities there has been some success with penalizing violators, she said.

“They have said ‘we have repeat offenders in some areas that the people are willing to go to court to testify about it,’ ” Jones said.

Macon-Bibb’s law has escalating fines, ranging from $75 for a first offense to $300 for the fourth offense, for people who don’t immediately remove waste left by their animals on public property. The ordinance also says it’s against the law for an animal to defecate or urinate on private property unless the owner has given permission.

One method to tackle the problem comes courtesy of a Community Foundation of Central Georgia Downtown Challenge grant, applied for by the Keep Macon-Bibb County Beautiful Commission. The grant provides funding for 30 self-service stations, replete with baggies for feces, to be placed around trails and parks across downtown. The plan is to eventually have another 30 stations throughout Macon-Bibb, Assistant County Manager Charles Coney said.

The county will monitor how well people clean up after their animals after setting up the stations. Many downtown residents have broached the topic of animal droppings, Macon-Bibb spokesman Chris Floore said, and the issue has also drawn recent attention in other areas, including a Vineville neighborhood.

“More and more people have moved downtown, which means we have more dogs being walked, and that’s great because it’s showing people are interested and wanting to live in a more walkable environment,” he said in an email. “With the more pets, though, comes this issue, and it’s one everyone involved agrees needs to be addressed.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2016 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Dog poop mess getting commissioners’ attention."