Dog Poop Reduction Project: Animal DNA Will Be Collected

Pet owners living in the southern French city of Béziers will need to carry their dog’s “genetic passport.” This project aims to reduce animal droppings on the streets.

The local mayor, Robert Ménard, a former journalist and co-founder of Reporters Sans Frontières, says residents and visitors are fed up with excrement on the city’s sidewalks. Ménard plans to launch a two-year experiment to track down and punish those who don’t supervise their pets.

“We have to punish people to make them behave better,” Ménard, elected by the far-right in 2014 and re-elected in 2020, told France Bleu radio.

As part of the planned program, the veterinarians will genetically test and document the pets. Those who do not carry their dog’s genetic passport will be fined 1,150 TL.

1,500 DOGS AVAILABLE

Ménard said dog faeces found on the pavement would be collected and analysed, and the pieces would be sent to police to be checked against national pet registries and matched with the owner, who would face a bill of up to £3,700 for cleaning up the dog. streets.

Ménard initially offered to collect DNA from approximately 1,500 dogs living in the center of Béziers in 2016, but the local administrative court rejected his request as an attack on personal freedom. It was then estimated that the program would cost 1.5 million TL per year.

It was noted that the new genetic passport measure was submitted to the local governor’s office earlier this year, and this time there were no objections to its implementation.

It has been announced that the experiment will continue until July 2025.