N.Y. Author Dishes the 'Dirt' on Manhattan's Dog-Scooping Laws

NEW YORK CITY (RUSHPRNEWS) 01/12/09 -- Got a moment? Own a dog? Live in a large metropolitan city (with nice sidewalks) somewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy? Well, Michael Brandow is the guy you want to go to. He's the author of an important dog lover's book titled "New York's Poop Scoop Law: Dogs, Dirt and Due Process", and it's a must-read for anyone with dogs and a big city address. Rural folk don't need to bother.


Brandow's book is not your average commercially-published trade book sent out into the world by savvy New York editors sitting in their glass offices high above Manhattan's dirty streets. In a publishing twist to end all publishing twists, the book -- which some critics are hailing as "a pioneering new history of doggy culture" -- was published by Purdue University Press. An academic press. Go figure. University presses do not usually walk very deep into dog doo, but in this case, Purdue did. Calling it "an urban epic tracing today's widespread social acceptability of dogs to a small piece of legislation that hit the sidewalks of New York 30 years ago", the New York Times has even steeped into the, er, fray.

What's the dirt that Brandow is dishing? If you have a dog, and you live in a big city, anywhere on Earth, but especially in North America and Europe, you might want to read it. It's about the political, economic and environmental issues surrounding dog doo in New York since the 1970s, with a broad overview of similar problems -- and solutions -- facing dog owners (and dogs themselves!) in other cities around the world, from Montreal to Manhattan.

Brandow, 49, is a dog lover par excellence, and he has spent long periods of time living with dogs in both Paris and Manhattan. He's been a professional dog walker in the past, and he knows what he's talking about in his 300-page book.

Brandow knows dogs. And the laws governing their daily sidewalk -- and streetside -- droppings. In other words, Brandow's got the the dirt on the dirty little business of dog poop, and he's worth listening to. His book is a wake-up call for the masses dealing with the messes.

In a recent interview with RushPRnews, Brandow, who majored in French at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and has lived and worked in Paris and New York for the past 25 years, talked about his new book and its genesis.

When asked about his background, Brandow said: "I'm a freelance journalist who until recently has supported his writing habit by working as a free-as-a-bird dog walker in Manhattan. In addition, I have written essays and reviews on the arts and on animals for over 20 years now."

So what's the scoop on dog poop in the big bad city?

Brandow dishes the dirt, saying: "Harassment of dog owners is getting worse in this, the 30th year of Manhattan's ground-breaking Health Law 1310 which continues to serve as a model for similar laws around the world. A recent increase in the minimum fine here in New York -- which is meaningless, as are all fines because these laws are virtually unenforceable -- from US$100 (where it has been for 30 years) to US$250 has shifted public attention back onto those quote unquote 'terrible' dog owners."

Brandow says this is par for the course in Manhattan, noting: "This is the traditional way to distract people from more serious matters that government cannot or will not handle. As we enter these hard financial times, similar perhaps to those we experienced in the 1970s when the law was first passed, things may get worse politically for dog owners here. The fact is, our law is still working remarkably well, but with the explosion of the dog culture in recent years, there are a few exceptions, as there always are. Complaints in New York come mainly from the certain parts of the outer boroughs, that is to say poorer "up and coming" neighborhoods where the custom of 'picking up' dog poop isn't taken as seriously as some would like.

Getting dog owners to accept the custom of picking up is an important part of urban renewal and gentrification, as it was for Manhattan in the late 1970s. The public perception all over the city right now is that there's more poop than ever, but there will never be 100 percent compliance with any litter law."

But Brandow sees some hope along the way as well, telling RushPRnews:
"One way in which laws have turned in our favor in recent years is in our official right to run dogs off-leash in our major parks during certain hours. This was granted informally for years, but now we're legal. I hope other cities take the example because, after the issue of picking up poop, off-leash privileges are the most controversial dog item everywhere."

And what's happening now in Montreal, Paris and London, among other international cities? Brandow remains hopeful, saying: "In other cities around the world, notably Paris, the canine waste situation has improved dramatically, and very recently, due to newly-enacted laws, or, as in the case of London, strengthening laws already on the books."

There is an environmental angle to all this, too. "New York City's Environmental Protection Act was the first of its kind in the U.S. and, to my knowledge, the world, when it was created by New York's Mayor Lindsay in the late 1960s, and Nixon took the example and formed a national EPA in 1970," Brandow told this reporter. "This is also when talk of imposing a canine waste law first began due to a growing awareness of environmental issues. However, while major environmental improvements were made to improve air quality in New York, among other reforms, the canine waste issue was passed over because it was simply too controversial, politically. In the end, it never really was as much of an environmental problem as it was a social one. Recent findings show that dog waste can contribute to water pollution in some areas around the world, but the impact is minimal compared to other causes such as nitrogen from industrial farming. But as always, it's easier to blame the dogs for everything."

Not everyone in New York loves dogs, or the sight of dog poop, of course. One reader of the New York Times, in a recent blog comment on the very issues that Brandow discusses in his book, unleashed his own veral, written anger online, saying: "Is there any way to have dogs banned entirely from New York City? I have an apartment in front of the elevator and am surrounded by three apartments that have small barking dogs that have to let the entire 25 story public housing building know when they are going out to do their business and the same when they are coming back in. The police say it's a housing matter, but housing can't even make the people stop selling drugs and start paying their rent."

This Times commenter added: "Every morning I'm awakened by the ASPCA across the street walking a bunch of barking dogs in front of this building instead of taking them to the sidewalk over by FDR Drive where the joggers go. Of course, they're thinking that the low-income people there will see the dogs and adopt them. At least they clean up after them now that I've gotten [our local politician's office] to have signs put on the fence out front."

"It's the same way with Central Park," the commenter adds. "I can't walk past the great lawn on my way home between eight and ten at night for supposedly well to do upper East Siders passively letting their big dogs off their leashes and chasing and barking at what ever catches their eye, including me."

And his parting shot? "I have always loved dogs and dogs and all other animals have always loved me but, enough is enough. Would an intelligence test for common courtesy to others being administered to all dog owners be the answer to the problems?"

Dogs. Can't live without them, can't live with them, either, it seems.

Read Michael Brandow's very compelling book for enlightenment here.

Title: "New York's Poop Scoop Law: Dogs, the Dirt, and Due Process (New Directions in the Human-Animal Bond)"
Author: Michael Brandow
Publisher: Purdue University Press
Release date: on sale now worldwide
List Price: US$29.95

photo by Derek Berg: Michael Brandow and his faithful companion Sammy

Link:  on Amazon