With the snow mostly melted, the F(ido) bombs on the sidewalks and parkways are getting really nasty.
Not only is it disgusting for humans to have to dodge them, but the rats pictured on the sign are an omen of just who shows up when the piles are left behind.
If you've got a dog, please pick up the poop. And if you see a dog owner who's not doing it, a reminder that it's against the law may not be out of line.
Many times the deep snow made picking up all of a dog's business difficult, if not impossible. If you're out with your dog, try to pick up 2 piles every time you're out. Within a few days, any winter remnants should be gone, without much effort.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's certainly worth a shot to say something here, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the people who leave crap in the grass and on sidewalks either a) don't read Uptown Update, or b) would even care if they did.
ReplyDeleteI've been wishing to catch someone doing this for the longest time to report them to the police, but no luck yet. It's so disgusting!
Another unfortunate effect of the snow melting is revealing all the trash that's been accumulating since the fall. I'd like to encourage people to pick up trash if you see it. You don't need to go out with a bag, just make a point to pick up one candy wrapper or booze bottle each time you go outside. When people see litter in the street, it makes them think littering is acceptable...this is partially why you'll see more litter in Uptown than, say, Lincoln Park. I don't like to pick up someone's trash any more than anyone else, but I believe it can set an example for others...whether that means encouraging them to pick up trash themselves or discouraging them from littering in the first place.
ReplyDeleteAs a dog-owner who lives on Agatite, I am constantly disgusted and (after years of this) outraged that people continue to pile up their dog poop bags in the garbage cans along the hazel intersections. These bins are full every other day, and overflow with poop bags (literally, only poop bags), yet people continue to pile them on! Why would someone, clearly seeing crap all over the ground and piled feet above the can, still choose to throw a bag there? Walk around to the alleya and toss it in the dumpster!Please, if you ever see someone doing this, call them out!
ReplyDeleteChiTownPhilly:
ReplyDeleteUh... those canisters do not get filled with "only poop bags." People like to throw their home garbage out in them and they get filled up that way. Then there is no space for the poop bags. I use those canisters. It's a garbage can. That's where poop bags go: in the garbage.
If you want to be mad at somebody, be mad at the people who throw large trash bags in those canisters and fill them up with home trash when they can clearly use their dumpsters for that.
We have a couple of "serial poopers" on our block of Argyle/Glenwood. I'm a dog owner myself and I've stepped in plenty, not to mention my pooch. There's plenty of signage, but its ignored. I've asked others to pick up, offered them extra bags, and usually have been ignored or told off.
ReplyDeleteI think Rebecca's idea is good for at least cleaning up the immediate mess, but the larger issue I am trying to figure out is how to get someone to obey the law w/out calling the police all the time. Likely, it will mean reporting them in to 311 or if threatened making a call to 911. Geez.
I agree with swisshammer. The garbage cans along Hazel are over flowing with a number of "household" garbage bags. I call 311, but it takes days to get them emptied. The dog poop piles are disgusting, and they are all over Hazel, from Agatite to Wilson. There is so much litter, I make it a point to bring a bag and pick it up when I can, but the trash cans are over flowing, and the trash is everywhere. If we had an alderman, they might care about this, but we don't. I'll pick up trash, but I will not pick up somebody else's sh*t. We are going to have serious rats problems this spring. With a total absent government, it's like nobody cares about the sh*t and the trash. Dog owners have to pick up after themselves, and I guess we have to pick up the trash others leave behind. I totally yell at people who litter, but this is getting disgusting, and that poop goes into our drinking water from run off.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the litter, hopefully, when elected, James or Molly will make Streets and Sans street sweep twice a month - like most other wards.
ReplyDeleteCurrently our streets are only swept once a month. That, and people acting like the neighborhood is their own personal trash can, leads to the area looking like a crap.
All the more reason why dog owners should "be prepared" for this type of situation come autumn, and train their dogs to use "litter boxes" as an alternative. (Yes, you can train a dog just like a cat; check out the "products" at your local pet supplies store.)
ReplyDeleteGayle:
ReplyDeleteThat's even grosser! That's why I don't own a cat.
What will we do when all we have to blog about is dog crap, trash cans and rats. cat litter...really
ReplyDeleteI mean, honestly Gayle. I keep reading over your comment and just can't find the words to how laughable that is.
ReplyDeleteWill that is what I call the Unholy Harvest.
ReplyDeleteI pickup tons of stuff. All the time. I have rules....
One rule is I always pick up glass bottles or anything glass, sucks to have glass break and its a potential weapon.
Another rule is I pickup bottles with water in them and then I dump the water out and throw the plastic or whatever bottle away.
You cant throw water away, and you cant allow other too, Water as trash or litter is hilarious and sad.
I think sustained litter pickup is a good strategy. On my block in Rogers Park I keep a tight ship.
I am over ambitious and I actually have tendonitis right now from using the nifty nabbers a ton, its either that or the back....
A sustainable consistent attack would involve something like nifty nabbers, and nabber bagger, which is a canvas garbage bag holder, makes it easy to throw the trash into (holds it open and the bag wont break as its being dragged.
I am developing my own style/sustained attack.
Right now Im taking a little break.
But I havent given up on winthrop.
The stretch inbetween Leland and Lawrence.
Its fun to get rid of trash.
Its shocking. People will either like it or think you are evil....
I have my trash route in Rogers Park. I also clean up the site of the former synagogue on Pratt near Sheridan.
Its a mission, litter can sometimes seem like an unwinnable war, I enjoy the challenge,
it can get you down when you see trash/litter reaccumulate, but I just see that as a challenge.
They cant outlast me....
The ultimate trash fighter is the bag snagger. Im not there yet.
ReplyDeleteIts pricey and its for removing bags from trees. The ultimate blight.....
I like the website, one of the nice quotes is
"be careful what you notice"....
Our Neighborhoods trash cans overflowing is all the more reason I am thankful that Nowotny did not make it to the runoff.
ReplyDeleteIt is a simple job that he neglected for years as ward Superintendant for Streets and San.
Hey, does anyone know where to get those signs? Even if I had to purchase them, I would like to have 4 of them to post on my property. If anyone has any information, please post it here!! Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteKen, you can make a request to the alderman's office to post them.
ReplyDeleteNoticed a 'poop bag' tossed on top of one of our building's dumpster this morning. So someone is respectful enough to clean up after their animal, but too lazy to lift up our private dumpster's lid? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHope to catch a person in the act of doing that next time.
I am all about picking up litter. Draw the line at cigarette butts and "abandoned" poop. Not always sure a dog was the culprit. The signs regarding cleaning up after your dog will probably be as effective as the no loitering signs.
ReplyDeleteMany times the deep snow made picking up all of a dog's business difficult, if not impossible.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that nonsense for one second. You think the snow's just gonna hide that you didn't clean up after your dog, cuz you're lazy.
I love, love dogs....and certainly had more than one growing up in Hinsdale (big yard).
ReplyDeleteThat said, I do think people should think twice about having dogs in small condo/apartments in the city.
Especially if they can't/won't clean up properly.
And I DO realize that owning a barking dog does help provide peace of mind with the sick, twisted criminal element we all are well familiar with up here.
Exactly, Dan.
ReplyDeleteIt never ceases to amaze me how much poop there is around the neighborhood this time of year and then how the volume subsides when the snow goes. The only explanation is that people think they can get away with it and that it will magically melt away with the snow. It doesn't! Your neighbors are picking up after you or unknowingly getting it on their shoes and tracking it into their homes. That is how it disappears. Disgusting!
BTW: Thank you very much to the good people who pick up extra since they've got the baggies anyway. Parents of young children are forever in your debt!
Thanks yo, I guess it will be easier after the April 5th runoff for poop signs. I live in the 46th ward we and are used to getting no cooperation, callbacks, or assistance from that office (since 2005 for me). I doubt that if I called them today that I would get the signs, even if I offered to pay for them.
ReplyDeleteAgain with the dog poop signs! Look at what had to happen for No Loitering Signs to appear! Keep your eyes on the prize. When dogs form gangs, tag your buildings, shoot and riot in the early afternoon whIle you are driving kids home from school then really complain. please revisit this post In July. One does not dismiss the other, but pick a starting point. Right now we just don't have it all.
ReplyDeleteMichele, I think dog poo all over the ground is a "broken windows" issue. It says no one cares to take care of this neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteAlso, rats are a huge issue. Lots of poo = lots of rats. And who wants to spend time outside with rats and poo all over the place? No faces on the street leads to gang presence.
If we're gonna take back our streets from the gangs, they have to be pleasant, so folks are encouraged to spend time outside. Poop and rats don't lead to that.
So, yeah, gangs are the biggest problem I see around these parts, but it doesn't mean I have to make a choice between fighting them and wanting clean sidewalks.
swisshammer, whether it becomes full because someone put their personal trash there or not is irrelevant. The point is that upon seeing the trash can full, somebody makes the conscious decision to put a bag of sh@t on top of an overflowing pile. Resulting in the ten bags of crap currently on my intersection at hazel/agatite.
ReplyDelete"I use those canisters. It's a garbage can. That's where poop bags go: in the garbage.
If you want to be mad at somebody, be mad at the people who throw large trash bags in those canisters and fill them up with home trash when they can clearly use their dumpsters for that."
You seem like the guilty party defending your misdeed. Two wrongs don't make a right Swisshammer, of those jerks aren't using the dumpster for their trash then you should still be putting your crap there, not in the overflowing garbage can!
I do not agree with not picking up your dog. If you think for one second a poop free, litter free Uptown will end violence you are wrong. We have outlawed spray paint, yet Gang tags are everywhere. I am not defending those not cleaning up after their animals. Not my point. Have you ever walked by some of the overflowing garbage in dumpsters off the alley at Leland/beacon on a weekly basis...they ain't full of poop or the so called Prairie grass in front of Stone Soup where you cross the street to avoid the rats. I have lived in other neighborhoods in this city and their gang, aggressive panhandling, murder, open drug market, etc., etc. Did not go away all because we picked up garbage. our planted garden at Lawrence and Beacon now serves as a lovely place for prostitutes to sit have a smoke and wait for a date. never once had one pick up their cigarette butt or bottle...
ReplyDeleteI will pickup dog doo in a bag with nifty nabbers. So I think there are some nuts that think curb your dog means put the dog poop in a bag and put it by the curb.
ReplyDeleteI do pickup cigarrette butts in the new planter on morse and wayne. The city didnt put it there to become an ashtray.
I will ask my alderman moore if they have these nice dog poop signs because dog poop is definitely a land mine to be watched for up here in RP.
I doubt that if I called them today that I would get the signs, even if I offered to pay for them.
ReplyDeleteActually, someone in my building called a few years ago and a sign was put up within a week.
Granted, it was on the wrong side of the street, and it was the smaller (and much harder to see/read) version of the sign in this picture ..., but it did get posted.
Michele, I doubt any of us think that a dogpoop free Uptown will stop gang violence. What we do think is, that a dogpoop free Uptown will keep us from stepping in piles of shit everytime we go outside. It is disgusting. I am skateboarder. Just yesterday a friend stepped in some and it got all over his board! Im sure it has happened to everyone, now imagine if it were your car or living room. Is it too much to ask that there not be shit all over the sidewalks?
ReplyDeleteSorry - tried to post this and accidentally double posted, then deleted one and now not seeing either up. Just in case wanted to make sure this got posted at least once :)
ReplyDeleteChiTownPhilly - 2 comments:
1) just a reminder that skateboarding on the sidewalk, much like not picking up after your dog, is illegal. agreed that getting dog poop on your stuff is sucky but hoping that you are boarding in the street and not the sidewalk.
2) dumpsters are technically private property that someone (usually the building owner(s)) pay to have and have serviced. it's not really kosher to put your trash in someone else's dumpster whereas the canisters in the street are for public use for litter. seems like a bad move to get mad at the one group doing the right thing by cleaning up after their dogs and using the public waste cans. get mad at the people who illegally dump their household garbage in the cans or the city for not servicing the cans often enough.
I guess my point is that I can handle a poop problem. It is an inconvenience and I have stepped in plenty in my day. Washes off. Dogs being walked outside = more people walking the streets. People walking their dogs tend to stop and talk with each other when passing on the street. This does sound somewhat like what happens in a neighborhood. Agreed not cleaning up after your pet is wrong! No question! Nutshell, only my opinion...I would RATHER step in dog poop over walking by groups of folks swearing and drinking on the sidewalk.
ReplyDelete@ Michelle: ".I would RATHER step in dog poop over walking by groups of folks swearing and drinking on the sidewalk."
ReplyDeleteI don't really see why the two need to be mutually exclusive. Why can't a person add to the pedestrian traffic by walking their dog AND stopping to pick up the poop. Win Win
Jen,
ReplyDeleteYou are wrong. Contrary to popular belief, skateboarding on the sidewalk is not illegal in chicago, unless you are in a business district (the loop). I am pretty sure my house on Agatite and Hazel is not in a business district. (Refer to city ordinance 9-80-200b: No person shall ride a skateboard upon any roadway or sidewalk in a business district.)
I have been told countless times, when skating downtown, to come back to Uptown where it is legal.
Secondly, are you seriously telling me that you think it is wrong to put trash in someone else's dumpster when the trash bins on the street are overflowing with feces? If you think so, then you are irrational. Who in their right mind does that? All the asides mean nothing, if the TRASH BIN IS OVERFLOWING WITH SHITBAGS, DONT PUT ANY MORE ON TOP! Pretty simple stuff.
chitownphilly:
ReplyDeleteactually, you are technically wrong here. the code says any business district, not just the central downtown district. there are business districts literally peppered all over the city (they can be zoned as small as a building).
if you take a look at a city of chicago zoning map (https://gisapps.cityofchicago.org/zoning/index.html) you'll see that b-zones exist at least every couple blocks or so in the city as well as along any high traffic streets.
in fact, there is a B3-5 zone a half block south of the intersection of hazel and agatite.
skateboards are treated as "toy vehicles" by the code 9-80-200. by law, skateboarding is not really possible as a means of transportation because you are prohibited from being on the roadways entirely and only allowed on sidewalks in small, disconnected parcels of land. the law basically lets kids/enthusiats skateboard outside their homes or specific recreation areas but not travel from point a to b over distances.
not saying i agree with the law, i personally think boarders should be allowed in bike lanes, but that is the law. it just rarely gets enforced.
as for me being irrational, who ever said the law was rational :) i was just saying how the law views things and suggesting that berating people who are being responsible pet owners and following the law seems a bit off given the point is getting people who don't even pick up after their dogs to do so.
Except they are not being responsible! Putting your dogs poop bag onto an overflowing trash can, so that it ends up on the ground, is responsible? Give me a break. I'm going skating. With my dog.
ReplyDelete