Italy’s Province Orders DNA Tests For All Dogs in Crackdown on Street Poo

In an effort to manage the scourge of dog mess on the streets, the provincial government of Italian Bolzano city has ordered to collect samples of DNA of all the dogs in what is being seen as a crackdown on the poo by the detectives.

Owners of as many as 40,000 furry pets in Bolzano have been asked to submit their pets' DNA tests as the authorities in the northern Italian province are trying to find out which ones of the owners of four legged furry friends do not clean up their mess. 

Culprits traced using DNA swab test

The culprits who leave behind poo scattered across the streets are being traced using DNA swab test. “Bolzano receives a few hundred complaints a year from citizens about improper management of public land. More than half are for dogs,” veterinary department director Paolo Zambotto was quoted by the agencies as saying. “Law enforcement could only catch three or four of them because they have to go there and set up some kind of stakeout,” the latter said, per reports.

Those guilty will be penalised with €292 to €1,048 ($318 to $1,143). But the authorities have had little luck as just 5,000 of the total pooches,  just 11% have complied to the order, Guardian reports. “It is easier said than done,” local Green Party associate Madeleine Rohrer told the Italian newspaper Il Giornale. “It will only be an additional expense for the municipality and for the police, who have many other things to do.” While the authorities attempt to test the poo genetically, thus far, only 10,000 have registered their pets.