Poop patrol: French town orders mandatory DNA testing for dogs, plans fines for mess

The dog owners in a southern French town will now have to get the DNA of their pets tested under new rules to tackle the scourge of poop-strewn pavements.

The mayor of Beziers introduced the tests and made them compulsory. The move will now make it easier for the street cleaners to identify the owners by taking samples from poop droppings they find in the centre of the town.

The ones responsible for failing to pick up their pet's poop will be forced to pay a fine of 120 euros ($135) for cleaning the mess.

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"I'm outraged that some people never clean up after their animals," Mayor Robert Menard told local radio France Bleu at the weekend. "We did a count: the town picked up 1,000 (dog turds) just in the centre. That's not right."

"We thought that if we put police officers on the street it would have an effect, but when there's a police officer, people clean up. It's when there's no one around that they don't crouch down and do their civic duty," he added.

As per news agency AFP reports, Menard has been seeking to introduce dog DNA testing since the year 2016, but previously, his efforts were rejected by the state on legal grounds.

The new rules have been introduced for the next two years on an experimental basis.

Now the dog owners in the centre of Beziers will have to prove if they have gotten the DNA test done, with police authorised to issue 38-euro fines to anyone failing to produce an identity document.

However, the 120-euro cleaning up fees will not be enforced for three months, with Menard promising that there will be a soft launch.

"People who don't clean up after their dogs couldn't give a damn about anyone," Menard added. "Sometimes I hear people say, 'It's up to municipal workers to clean up after my dog.' They'll see now. It's going to cost 120 euros."

DNA testing for dogs has been previously introduced in cities like Tel Aviv in Israel, Valencia in Spain and some areas of London.

Landlords in some private residential compounds in Florida have also introduced rules that require residents to provide DNA samples of their animals to identify pavement foulers.

The mayor's office in Beziers said cleaning up dog faeces cost the municipality of 75,000 people around 80,000 euros per year.

(With inputs from agencies)

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