To the editor:
Ah, dog poop. It seems to be a topic of conversation on the Times' op-ed pages as often as Mayor Kirk's budgets, or John Tierney and Scott Brown's voting records.
I mean, it's a hot issue!
All kidding aside, it is an important issue because it is a public health issue.
This summer, living downtown, I have taken to walking my dog on Stacy Boulevard.
I, as a dog lover, know that all it takes to ruin things for responsible dog owners, in terms of where our dogs can and cannot go, are a few chumps who are either too lazy, too ignorant, or both, to pick up after their animals.
But here's what I don't get about the lazy and ignorant chumps who leave their dogs' calling cards behind to greet the rest of us and our dogs on our walks — there are, more often than not, free biodegradable poop bags available in dispensers at several locations along the Boulevard! So, just what is your excuse?
I fully understand the banning of dogs from beaches, on or off leash, for the summer. The crowds at places like Good Harbor and Wingaersheek are just too large to also accommodate people's dogs, even the dogs of owners who would be responsible about picking up the waste.
But now, after stepping into a small mountain of some other dog's you-know-what by the tennis courts on the Boulevard this morning, I am worried that, if the chumps keep leaving their dogs' poop behind, it won't be long before there are calls for dogs and their owners to be banned from strolling the Boulevard entirely.
I can only speak for myself, but it really ticks me off that what I believe is a small minority of lazy and ignorant dog owners have been able to make life so difficult for all the responsible dog owners I've met these last two summers.
MICHAEL COOK
Gloucester
