Great evils come with great means. In Saint-Omer in Pas-de-Calais (62), the cup is full. Faced with the growing number of dog droppings on public roads, the town hall has decided to put in place a protocol which will allow dog owners to be fined for not picking up their animals' droppings.
Thanks to a DNA registration system, the elected officials of the town hope to be able to quickly improve the situation of this small town of nearly 15,000 inhabitants.
A measure deployed in spring 2025
Planned for next spring, the experimentation of this new protocol requires a certain organization.
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Upstream, the dogs of the municipality will be recorded in a DNA file allowing them to be identified. Subsequently, municipal agents will be tasked with collecting samples of uncollected excrement, and the owners responsible for this lack of citizenship will be able to be found.
Initially, this measure will be applied in a limited area, and dog walkers must have the animal's identity card in the area concerned.
In the event of an infraction, unscrupulous owners will be required to pay a fine of 267 euros.
Although some municipalities have already implemented this type of initiative, such as Béziers in Hérault (34), DNA recording remains a subject that divides many dog owners.
