Owners in Bolzano, northern Italy, must pay €65 for test, which police can use to search for dog muck culprits

Owners in Bolzano, northern Italy, must pay €65 for test, which police can use to search for dog muck culprits

Dog owners in Bolzano must submit their pets for DNA tests as the authorities in the northern Italian province crack down on the scourge of dog poo in the streets.

The swab test results will be inserted into a database, which police can then refer to in their search for the culprits and their owners. The evidence will be used to fine owners between €292 and €1,048 (£250 and £900).

The law required the estimated 45,000 dogs in the province, located in the mountainous Trentino-Alto Adige region, to undergo a DNA test at a veterinary clinic by the end of December 2023 before the initiative is introduced this month. But only 5,000 have complied, according to reports in the Italian press.

The measure has been contentious, especially among the dog owners who diligently clean up their pet’s poop and who are now obliged to pay €65 for the test.

  • @[email protected]
    23•6 months ago

    I live near Merano, and for every two tourists there is a dog – who pays to test those [stray] dogs?

    Does a stray dog shit in the streets? Seriously Italians, when you find the answer to that question, you’ll know the solution to your problems.

  • AItoothbrushEnglish
    15•6 months ago

    Idk about southern italy but i lived in northern spain for 3 months and its horrible. You step out onto the street and you have to do parkour to dodge the shit while the street smells like a metric ton of dogshit. The worst part is some people pee and defacate on the street and it doesnt seem to bother anyone. I really do like spain but shit is literally their biggest problem.

    • Sneezycat
      5•6 months ago

      What city in particular? I don’t regularly encounter shit on the street when I go outside lol and most definitely not enough for it to have a smell.

      • @[email protected]English
        8•6 months ago

        Maybe he lived in Spain 40 years ago? Or in literally the worst part of the shittiest village there.

      • AItoothbrushEnglish
        5•6 months ago

        I lived in calafell and i went to barcelona and segur de calafell a lot because they are pretty nice(except for the dog poo). Also one of my friends car got robbed in daylight in an elevated parking house… barcelona can be pretty dangerous for tourists and they warn you. We only went with train as it was literally free

        • @[email protected]English
          8•6 months ago

          That’s not northern Spain. Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Pais Basco - that’s northern Spain. Catalonia is in the east and it sucks. Northern Spain is very nice and clean.

          • AItoothbrushEnglish
            1•6 months ago

            Oh in school they told me that catalonia was northern spain but i guess thats just the hungarian educational system…

            • @[email protected]English
              2•6 months ago

              Did they teach you that Poles and Hungarians are like brothers? That’s what they thought me in Poland.

              • AItoothbrushEnglish
                1•6 months ago

                Yeah lol. They also had some wierd obsession with finnish people because of the tie between the hungarian and finnish language.

      • @[email protected]
        1•6 months ago

        Not op but I have been the convention center in Barcelona a couple times and the open sewage vents give the city a distinctive smell.

  • PugJesus
    7•6 months ago

    The swab test results will be inserted into a database, which police can then refer to in their search for the culprits and their owners. The evidence will be used to fine owners between €292 and €1,048 (£250 and £900).

    At least the police will be doing something useful for once.

    • @[email protected]
      12•6 months ago

      They’re stray dogs shitting in the streets. I don’t think they’ll be paying fines anytime soon.

      • squiblet
        6•6 months ago

        I’m sure a portion is from ‘shitty’ dog owners.

        • @bufordt
          2•6 months ago

          As a dog owner who sees a lot of other dog owners leaving shit everywhere, the shit in the streets is probably at least 50% from pets.

      • PugJesus
        4•6 months ago

        Everyone knows stray dogs hide their ill-gotten gains in Swiss banks. They have plenty of money for the fines, don’t let those dogs fool you!

  • @[email protected]
    4•6 months ago

    As a dog owner, I wish this happened in my city. Every time I walk the dog I have to be extremely careful not to step on other dog’s shit.

    One time my GF was walking the dog wearing sandals and stepped on a dogshit. The owner of the dogshit approached her and told her “How dare you walk on sandals here, dogs shit here”, he later said “I’m a very good dog owner, I always carry a bag with me” (I guess to pick up the shit if police is nearby) “But I don’t like picking up the dog’s shit, it’s nasty”.

    People just suck.