DNA tests for dogs to tackle problem poo
Hundreds of thousands of dogs in the US have had their DNA registered on a database, so owners can be traced if they don’t pick up their pet’s poo.
The average dog produces about 124kg of poo every year, but not all of that gets picked up and disposed of properly.
So people living in many residential blocks in the US have had their dogs’ DNA registered on a database, in an attempt to tackle problem poo. If they don’t pick up after their dog, a sample of what’s left behind is sent off to a lab so the perpetrator can be identified.
The company behind the tests says it works well in private, gated communities but what about public parks and pavements?
Could other solutions, such as offering rewards for picking up poo, or posting dog mess backs to the owners, work in the long term?
And we hear how Ontario in Canada is collecting dog poo to turn it into energy.
Presenter: Kat Hawkins
Reporters: Ros Tamblyn and Claire Bates
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Broadcasts
- Tue 16 Apr 2019 02:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Online, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa only
- Tue 16 Apr 2019 03:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service UK DAB/Freeview
- Tue 16 Apr 2019 05:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Australasia, Americas and the Caribbean & South Asia only
- Tue 16 Apr 2019 06:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service East and Southern Africa & East Asia only
- Tue 16 Apr 2019 13:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Australasia
- Tue 16 Apr 2019 14:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service except Australasia
- Tue 16 Apr 2019 17:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service South Asia
- Tue 16 Apr 2019 19:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service except East and Southern Africa, South Asia & West and Central Africa
- Sun 21 Apr 2019 23:06GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service
People fixing the world on YouTube
Watch stories of people changing their world on the World Service English YouTube channel