Dogs–good. That being said, there are some dog owners in our community who are not.
I live in Loring Park, which I like, and there isn’t a ton of open space other than the huge park the neighborhood is named after that nowhere in the neighborhood is more than a few blocks from, hmmm.
A lotta people in Loring Park have dogs. Anecdotally, two three-legged dogs live on Oak Grove Street, which, at six legs total, is overwhelming. One issue that we have in our nice urban neighborhood with lots of people and dogs is that…some…people do not pick up the poop their dogs make, which is rude as well as illegal.
Emerson School, Loring Park
Approximately kitty corner from my apartment sits Emerson School, a Spanish language immersion school in a handsome building built before schools looked like meatpacking plants. Locals may have some experience with the building as a polling place.
A month or so ago walking home from work, I noticed something…incredibly good. Tens of hand drawn photos, asking, imploring, pleading area residents to stop letting their dogs shit all over the school grounds and the sidewalk where the buses queue up in the morning and afternoon, and my G-d that is rude, we live in a society, you animals.
Check it out:
All along the bus queuing area on Spruce Place, we have this terrific and heavily-emoji inspired (kids must think in emojis now? weird, I…don’t do that, at all) artwork that I am hoping the school auctions off or something at the end of the year.
There’s something for everybody! Here’s a sampling.
Satanic dog poop?
Got it.
Confused dog poop?
“what….am….I?”
Yes.
Head-over-heels in love dog poop?
could probably use this one out of context
Right here.
Potentially Jewish dog poop?
s/o Terry
Mazel.
Shouting dog poop?
RIGHT HERE.
Quietly sobbing dog poop?
sniffles yes…
Rainbow dog poop?
It’s Loring Park!
Hopefully you have enjoyed this.
Pick up your dog poop.
“dog poo” signs are my favorite genre of signage. See here: http://tcsidewalks.blogspot.com/search/label/dog%20poo%20signs
I will risk the disdain of many of my friends by admitting that I’m not a dog lover. In fact, I generally dislike dogs. They sometimes bite (me, twice; neighbors, several times), some bark incessantly when you’re trying to work, and they naturally see both public and private property as their vast toilets. One destroyed the yard and floors at my rental property.
But I’ve come around to seeing the benefits of dogs in getting people out on the streets. I know many of my wonderful neighbors because of their dogs. And I like the joy they get from their companions.
These kids deserve better than to walk through filth by their school. I’m delighted by the way they are getting that message across.
Hamline-Midway had a similar problem where dog owners were using a fenced in school yard as a dog park. The building had previously been vacant and then a school started using it. The students were often afraid of dogs and there was a lot of waste left behind. I don’t know if they ever came up with a solution, but the arguments about it were not as creative as these children’s.
Very disappointed that the “good” link in the opening didn’t direct to a picture of Oliver.
Aha, “kitty corner,” you say? I used to keep a turd flipper stick handy in order to fling the poop off my lawn when the West Bank was overrun by freely roaming dogs. Considered trying to get a watch goose. The worst was having a load drop near your head on the beach at Calhoun or Harriet, although it was no joke if a frisbee player stepped on your face.
I hate the entitled dog owners too but this school never clears its sidewalks properly. They are a terrible neighbor so it makes it a lot harder to care about their problems if they can’t even do their basic civic duty as a public institution.