les crottes

Aside from finding it a bit cruel to keep a dog cooped up in an apartment all day, I have no issues with Parisians and their dogs. EXCEPT for the dog crap otherwise known as crotte de chien (cdc). Just today when I went for my Sunday pastry and baguette, I encountered a trail of cdc. Whenever I see a cdc I wonder - who are the people who let their dogs do their business in the middle of the sidewalk (or the inconsiderate connard who allows the dog to leave a cdc in a metro station) where some poor soul is likely to step it in?? Don’t these same people have to walk and navigate around the cdc? And how difficult is it to go a few feet to the gutter or the nearest tree? Maybe there’s a society of dog walkers who have secretly invented a transporter and they just beam outside when Fido has a nature call so they don’t actually have the joy of stepping around or hopping over the cdcs. A couple of years ago the city featured an ad campaign that showed cdcs in different home situations (e.g. next to the bathtub, in the living room). I think the text of the ad was “Not in your home? Paris is your home.” Even if that’s not an exact translation, you get the idea. The ads were clever, but they didn’t seem to change the cdc-leavers' behavior. Maybe they were too busy avoiding the cdc trails to see the ads….