Curb Your Dog, Not Your Enthusiasm

(Originally published 6/2/14)

In the 1980s, my family included a beloved canine member of the household named Ginger. With few exceptions, we walked dogs in the street back then. A long-established New York City law—with posted signs to remind us—read, “Curb Your Dog.” On the very same grounds today, dogs are invariably walked on the sidewalk, which is understandable considering the sizeable increase in automobile traffic and sheer numbers of parked cars.

Never deviating, I faithfully walked Ginger in the street, weaving around parked cars in the process. On certain days of the week and times of the day, there was even room to roam unobstructed. Sure, the streets were littered with canine waste until the sweepers came along to whisk it away. Stepping in doggy-do was a repeated rite of passage. But curbing your dog was the be-all and end-of the original law. Picking up was not mandated.

In 1978, the first New York City “pooper-scooper” law passed but it was around 1982 or 1983, if memory serves, that curbing your dog alone wasn’t sufficient. Picking up what my father called our dog’s “business” was not only law but enforced by lurking sanitation police waiting to pounce like frogs on a fly. In fact, I received a $100 ticket in the fledgling months of enforcement—a fair chunk of change at the time—for not taking Ginger’s waste home with me. I was a scofflaw but learned an expensive lesson. I never repeated my transgression in the bright light of day.

Recently, I read that the city mothers and fathers have been systematically removing all “Clean Up After Your Dog” signs, the forebear of “Curb Your Dog” signs. The rationale for this undertaking is to reduce the city’s sign clutter, which is considerable and often confusing. Really, New York City residents should know by now that it’s their business to pick up their dog's business.

And I suspect that dog walkers one and all do know. Those who don’t know, know, too. They just don’t care, and posted signs encouraging them to pick up their dogs’ number two isn’t going to matter. I say good riddance to those ubiquitous signs. I've already paid my dues—a $100 fine—when, in fact, curbing my dog was first not enough.

(Photos from the personal collection of Nicholas Nigro)