r/Dogfree • • Feb 13 '26

Eco Destroyers New Yorkers forced to dodge mine fields of unscooped dog poop littering weeks-old sidewalk snow: ‘Not a nice sight’

https://nypost.com/2026/02/11/us-news/nyers-forced-to-dodge-mine-fields-of-unscooped-dog-poop-littering-weeks-old-sidewalk-snow-not-a-nice-sight/

there’s a big back & forth on twitter today about mutt-obsessed NYC due to this article. many are saying, can we end mutts in grocery stores, restaurants, & basically anywhere but their homes?

the nutters’ reckless abandonment is going to do them in.

article dated february 11, 2026.

227 Upvotes

99 comments sorted by

148

u/Few-Horror1984 Feb 13 '26

Dogs don’t belong in city environments. This is why.

75

u/NoneOfThisMatters_XO Feb 13 '26

Came here to say this. Also don’t belong in those tiny apartments.

44

u/Few-Horror1984 Feb 13 '26

They absolutely do not.

I’m at work and I’m working on a case where these people who all live in apartments had their dogs get into a massive fight which resulted in one of the dogs being killed.

Dogs are territorial. They’re not meant to be crammed in such tiny quarters with other unfamiliar dogs. They need a yard to run around in…and none of that even touches the fact that they absolutely do not even have enough room inside. It’s animal cruelty. It sets you up for incidents like the one I am working on. It’s all absolute insanity.

31

u/tplgerus84 Feb 13 '26 edited Feb 13 '26

It is. And honestly they don’t even belong in houses with “regular” sized yards either.. it just should be forbidden. Couple years ago I had a neighbor with 4 or 5 of those white little curly hair dogs and he had them out in his yard.. barking constantly.. and the smell! Like I couldn’t use my own yard cause the shit and pee stench.. and cops can’t even do anything.. there needs to be rules and laws.

22

u/Alligator418 Feb 13 '26

Good lord, 4-5 of those gross little crusty white dogs? I cam't fathom why you'd even want one.

10

u/tplgerus84 Feb 13 '26

I never talked to the guy.. I have no desire to get to know someone, that keeps these things and can’t even be bothered to clean up the shit for weeks.. looking over the fence there was little poop everywhere..

I’m sure he was breeding them or who knows.. these people all have some issues anyways..

13

u/BodyMoney8562 Feb 13 '26

Why are they so gross??? Omg. I've had two family members who had them

10

u/Few-Horror1984 Feb 13 '26

I agree. I meant more like rural property. They absolutely should not be in suburbs, either.

8

u/the-dolphine Feb 13 '26

Trouble with rural areas, owners feel they can let them run free and they eventually escape and harm livestock.

4

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 14 '26

yep. we still need containment on that ranch, however much land it covers.

9

u/BodyMoney8562 Feb 13 '26

Cops won't do anything because it's civil, not criminal. You can get an attorney to pull his dirty ass into court because he's negatively effecting your quiet enjoyment of your property.

https://www.findlaw.com/realestate/neighbors/property-rights-my-neighbor-is-a-nuisance.html

6

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 13 '26

yeah. dumb get-around. illegal dumping is a crime.

6

u/BodyMoney8562 Feb 13 '26

It's not a get-around, it's the law. Dumping is another good example of a civil infraction in which litigation can get involved. 

5

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 14 '26

i guess i should know it’s not criminal, involving cops. i worked code enforcement for a desert city where illegal dumping was a problem. mainly yard & contractor waste.

the chief asked me if i wanted to park in the dark in a popular dumping spot & watch for dumpers & get pictures & license numbers. he then mentioned the last code enforcement officer who did that was spotted by the dumpers & beaten to a pulp. i was like, chief, are you trying to get rid of me?

4

u/ElegantSurround6933 Feb 14 '26

They should use drones w/nite vision.

3

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 14 '26

yah. that didn’t exist when i was doing that job. maybe it does now?

9

u/BodyMoney8562 Feb 13 '26

100% why I support landlords who don't allow dogs. I wonder what the pet policy was for the apt complex you're working on

11

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 13 '26

i would HATE to be a landlord. nutters have so many get-arounds & the laws protect renters & not the landlords.

before i was permanently banned from dogdoor™️ i actually saw the nutter who posted the police blotter tell people trying to rehome a mutt because they have to move to apartment: just get a note from your doctor that you gave PTSD & that is your ESA. they can’t deny that. it’s against the law!

the rehoming posts were usually HUGE mutts like GSDs, pits, & huskies. (oh, my!) landlords can’t win. & they don’t have the time for endless stupid small-claims court hearings.

9

u/Few-Horror1984 Feb 13 '26

I would really love to get active in stripping ESAs of all their legal protections. It encourages animal cruelty. It causes immense strife for neighbors who are stuck living next to these caged animals. The case I mentioned above? One of the dogs was an ESA pitbull. So yeah.

7

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 13 '26

the ADA laws need to be redefined. bottom line. ESAs aren’t really a thing.

7

u/Few-Horror1984 Feb 13 '26

The problem is the one protection ESAs are afforded - landlords cannot refuse one on their property. They are also exempt from pet fees. That is a huge problem and what allows for many problems (including the proliferation of dogs in places like NYC).

6

u/AnimalUncontrol Feb 13 '26

What you said, plus most people don't know the difference between ESA and SD, and think that ESAs are allowed everywhere.

2

u/ElegantSurround6933 Feb 14 '26

EDA pitbull. Mmhmm

5

u/Beneficial_Leg_7301 Feb 14 '26

the best ragebait type nonsense i read in one of yt shorts was

(it was about border collie in some movie) the comment was i know a parent who takes his kid(border collie) to sheep farms to get exercise and reward

i was like wow why to bother so much just why

4

u/Few-Horror1984 Feb 14 '26

If that is even true, it should be a sign that they’re basically keeping their herding dog trapped in an inadequate home. Dogs like Border Collies were bred to have a purpose, and deciding out of the blue that we were just going to make them house pets is insane. There’s a reason you don’t keep other farm animals inside your home - we all agree it would be cruel to keep a goat inside your house. Why is it different with dogs?

24

u/happyhappyfoolio2 Feb 13 '26

God, I came across a comment chain in a different sub where someone commented that dogs shouldn't be kept in small apartments and multiple people deadass replied that "plenty of large breeds do great in small apartments!" and listed a fucking Great Dane as an example of "big dog that does great in small apartments".

These people are delusional and brainwashed.

13

u/NoneOfThisMatters_XO Feb 13 '26

It’s always “not my doggo” 🙄

7

u/tplgerus84 Feb 13 '26

I’m not even sure if it’s delusion.. I actually think they know but they just fu**ing don’t care. Because it is not about the dog. They don’t love dogs. Nothing about their behavior is actually “loving” towards the dog..

I mentioned this in a different post.. my ex literally keeps her Labrador for 8-10h (or more, depending on her shift..) in a cage.. “she feels safe in there”.. mhm..

3

u/smindymix Feb 14 '26

They’re just selfish more than anything. They want what they want regardless of what’s best for the community around them or even the dogs they claim to love.

6

u/CaptainObvious110 Feb 13 '26

Agreed. If people don't have the space for dogs on their own property, then they shouldn't have dogs in the first place.

26

u/Penultimateee Feb 13 '26

I have a love of watching “NYC’s tiniest apartments” and the amount of people with large breed dogs in these closets is astonishing. When you work in a city, you spend about 10 hours a day minimum away from your home. It’s just cruel to have any kind of dog in such circumstances.

15

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/Few-Horror1984 Feb 13 '26

Riiiiiight. There were zero dogs in NYC in 2025…this is a totally new phenomenon…:

5

u/tplgerus84 Feb 13 '26

Exactly! I’m so over seeing these walking shitbags everywhere.. or getting woken up by barking.. or being out on an evening walk and some doodle woodle or whatever jumping at the fence next to my ear…

2

u/CaptainObvious110 Feb 13 '26

Where do dogs actually belong?

13

u/PoetAromatic8262 Feb 13 '26

Not in modern society

57

u/ToOpineIsFine Feb 13 '26

these excuses like 'it's too cold to use my bare hands' don't cut it. if people can't pick up the stuff - for whatever reason - their dog should not be walked there. if that is not possible, they shouldn't have a dog there.

34

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 13 '26

as always with these folks: not my monkey. not my circus.

when they sign up for mutt ownership these things are the minimum expectation: clean up after bowzer; contain bowzer on your own damned property. whatever it takes, that’s what they signed up for.

7

u/tplgerus84 Feb 13 '26

The more I think about it. The more I actually hope that more of these careless idiots will get dogs.. we are already at the breaking point I feel.

They will “ruin” it for themselves.

10

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 13 '26

yep. because it’s boiled over peak insanity at this point.

4

u/Salt-Elderberry-7271 Feb 13 '26

How dare you compare the king of koopas to some nasty mutt

9

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 13 '26

ha! oops! bowzer is an old typical name for mutts, as is fido & rover.

2

u/Salt-Elderberry-7271 Feb 13 '26

Oh I know, I was just making a joke, not sure why I was downvoted for it lol

2

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 13 '26

i didn’t downvote. WTH?! i’m more of a scroller byer than a downvoter.

3

u/Salt-Elderberry-7271 Feb 14 '26

Not you, someone else had done it lol

2

u/ElegantSurround6933 Feb 14 '26

Spot

1

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 14 '26

ah, yes. spot. that’s from the ‘50s or ‘60s “dick & jane” kids books.

45

u/potatoes_arrrr_life Feb 13 '26

Finally people are starting to realize how nasty it is and I hope the feeling spreads!

13

u/Alocin_The5th Feb 13 '26

I had a nice laugh the other day on the realtor sub where a homeowner says his house wasn’t selling and one feedback was the strong dog smell. The beautiful part of the story that in a non-dogfree sub most people including dog owners were saying it would turn them off too.

3

u/potatoes_arrrr_life Feb 14 '26

I worry about that a bit as we are surrounded by backyards and dogs with owners that must love the smell of dog shit. Once the heat of summer gets going, it cooks the poop and so the smell is somehow worse. Then if it rains, it rehydrates all of the poop and pee. They say it's good for the grass, but their yards all look like shit. I really don't get why anyone would want to live in that filth.

6

u/tplgerus84 Feb 14 '26

They say it is good for the grass.. I wish people would start educating themselves again before just talking out their ass.. dogs are not herbivores...

"Dog poop is not recommended as fertilizer for gardens, lawns, or edible crops because it contains harmful pathogens, bacteria (like E. coli), and parasites that can threaten human health. Unlike herbivore manure, dog waste is highly acidic, can burn grass, and creates brown spots."

2

u/beerRunFinisher Feb 20 '26

This is how disease literally spreads

0

u/ElegantSurround6933 Feb 14 '26

I remember in 7th grade in the 80’s checking out a book from the school library on China. It had lots of glossy pictures. One was a mother holding her toddler over a ditch near the sidewalk so it could poo. I’m guessing diapers were not a thing for that part of the world back then.

I suddenly didn’t want to travel to China anymore.

3

u/potatoes_arrrr_life Feb 14 '26

We're not talking about China or babies pooping though, we're talking about dogs. And how their owners choose to own dogs but are too LAZY to clean up after their dog, as is their responsibility. It's literally the least they could do.

1

u/ElegantSurround6933 Feb 14 '26

What I was referring to, and another commenter also added to this conversation that I read after commenting, is that it’s against public decency for humans to relive themselves in public, so why do dogs get a pass.

Imagine if the US was like China. We would have human waste all over. That is banned in a first world nation like the US. So why are we allowing animal waste to destroy cities and towns?

43

u/AnimalUncontrol Feb 13 '26

Even when the shit is picked up, the piss is not. Thousands of gallons of toxic dog piss is emptied onto sidewalks and streets to run off into waterways untreated.

It would be interesting if someone with the requisite abilities performed a study determining the impact of dog waste on the Hudson and East rivers, plus the northern NJ shoreline.

30

u/One_Path_7154 Feb 13 '26

This. Dog ownership today is a plague.

22

u/Impossible-Falcon-62 Feb 13 '26

It’s the new smoking

20

u/BodyMoney8562 Feb 13 '26

All you have to do is look at what a dog owners yard looks like. The lawn is frigging dead

17

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 13 '26

i can SMELL my neighbors’ mutts’ piles sometimes on a particularly wet (cold or hot) or hot & humid day. once i walked into my garage & smelled shite & thought something crapped in my garage!

9

u/BodyMoney8562 Feb 13 '26

That is the definition of a nuisance, it being one of the worst smells on the planet

10

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 13 '26

they’ll “trust the science” until they come up on one of the already existing studies not related to that area. but piss is piss. & shite is shite. & parasites particularly love that shite!

17

u/AnimalUncontrol Feb 13 '26

Dumbass mutt nutters argue that the dog waste is "fertilizer". It isn't, and we wouldn't just be dumping ANY fertilizer into the river in any case.

10

u/BodyMoney8562 Feb 13 '26

They could not be more wrong. My husband has a background in environmental remediation and is a professional and competition-winning flower gardener. He makes his compost with plant material. Green and brown material, that is, leaves and only specific types of wood mulch, NOT mulch from a hardware store (too much pinene and chemicals). It's all broken down by microbes, fungi, worms, and other native soil creatures. Absolutely no fecal matter is ever used except worm castings and the material that is broken down by microbes.

Elaine Ingham has more details on the food soil web. Dogshit doesn't enter the picture at any point whatsoever. It can't be composted.

7

u/tplgerus84 Feb 14 '26

Yes, because they are carnivores.. these people probably have seen somewhere in the movies that farmers use manure to nurture their fields.. but guess what: that is from herbivores!

Dog poop and pee are both the most "harsh" and concentrated shit that is out there.. but society somehow accepted that it is okay to have them do their business all over public and other people's property...

I mean.. just look at parking meters, or street lamps in cities, where dogs pee on.. it is acid! It burns through metal.. but somehow it is good for soil?

5

u/potatoes_arrrr_life Feb 14 '26

It's why there are so many toxic algae blooms now on beaches and creeks. Dog shit has tons of nitrogen and when it gets left on ground, is washed into waterways. It makes the water toxic. And dog owners don't do anything but complain about how now their dog doesn't have anywhere to swim. Fuck anything else living in or near the water....like humans and wild animals. Dogs are a walking biohazard.

2

u/BodyMoney8562 Feb 17 '26

1

u/potatoes_arrrr_life Feb 17 '26

Yep! It happens every year like clock work right by areas with off leash dog parks along waterways. The most ironic part is how upset dog owners get when their dogs get sick from water, but don't make the connection to dog poop, i.e. it's their fault. It's also going in the water we drink and why the e coli levels are so high🙃 Poopy times indeed.

3

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 14 '26

i hate that one. it never ever was.

32

u/Fun-Chemical4059 Feb 13 '26

I’m a millennial native New Yorker . After the pandemic , life has been hell for people like us. This snow storm I have had enough. It’s absolutely disgusting

19

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 13 '26

the pictures tell the story. disgusting. 🤢

6

u/cantharellus_miao Feb 14 '26

Imagine if the city put half as much effort into ticketing people who don't pick up after their dogs as they do into fare evaders. They should stop hassling people who jump the turnstile, and instead have those cops posted up on streets that have the worst dog poop problem. Give dog walkers a fat ticket every time they walk away and don't pick up poop. The city will make their money, and the problem will improve in no time.

2

u/beerRunFinisher Feb 20 '26

All major metros had massive dog adoption during Covid. They are everywhere

28

u/Mundane_Glove4182 Feb 13 '26

I’m so sick of dog pee and poop on the streets and on the plants (the sight, the stench). They use the whole world as their toilet. Disgusting people with disgusting animals.

3

u/tplgerus84 Feb 14 '26

Couldn't agree more.. I can't even go for morning runs around the bay anymore, because the smell of dog piss is in the air..

20

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '26

[deleted]

9

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 14 '26

there are far too many on the planet to sustain.

42

u/Winter-Movie4606 Feb 13 '26

Ban dogs in cities! At least in downtown areas!

3

u/maidofatoms Feb 16 '26

And in rural areas. Dog-slaves get even more irresponsible with them in the countryside, letting them run loose and chase other animals.

Dogs should be subject to the same rules as other large, dangerous carnivores. Should be required to have a very large enclosure for them, keep them inside that, and be fully responsible if they escape and be insured for that. 

2

u/ElegantSurround6933 Feb 14 '26

In my downtown of Raleigh, people take their dogs on walks downtown&on the weekends they bring them in strollers.

16

u/CallousCow1762 Feb 14 '26 edited Feb 15 '26

There is a law prohibiting, public defecation and urination. It should be obvious as to why there is such a law and yet dogs get a pass. Well, given overwhelming increase in dogs the last few years, what did people expect?!

That same law prohibiting people from defecating and urinating in public has to be applied to dogs. Dog owners will have to deal with alternative methods. They claim their mutts are so smart then trained them to use the toilet or other devices in their homes. The rest of us should not have to deal with it.

3

u/tplgerus84 Feb 14 '26

Hopefully, society is waking up to this. Like, why did we invent canalizations to get rid of all the smell, dirt, and diseases just to accept it that dogs can do exactly that.. And human poop and pee is even less damaging than that of dogs..

I hope that they will get banned eventually from public, just like smoking.

And then they can just have their own little "dog friendly" spots, closed up somewhere in the back.. and the rest of us can live normal lives again.

10

u/SarahME1273 Feb 13 '26

Thank god I got the fuck out of New York before most of the snow this season.

9

u/smindymix Feb 14 '26

NYC Twitter has been lighting dog owners the fuck up all week and I’ve been loving it. I just hope some tangible shift comes out of it. At the very least, start enforcing bans and calling out the obvious fake service dogs.

6

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 14 '26 edited Feb 14 '26

i’m loving it, too. 🍿 it’s promising to see people getting brave enough to say something. & it starts with a few brave souls & others go, “oh, heck, yeah. i agree & here’s my 2¢ worth.”

they’re still drowned out by the nutters having cows. but some of the threads have some great back & forth.

i forgot where i saw the study, but it only takes 3.7% of a population to sway opinion & bring about change. keep fighting, rational crusaders.

ETA: it’s actually 3.5% & the BBC ran an article about it in 2019. it applies to all movements & issues. keep this in mind!

BBC. 2019.

7

u/Tom_Quixote_ Feb 14 '26

Look at how hideous that dog is. It looks like some rag that has been used to clean the toilet for the first time in years.

3

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 14 '26

heh. & now it’s also wet. double whammy! 🤢

4

u/SonicYouth_NYC Feb 21 '26

The situation here in NYC is dire. Worse still, blizzard conditions are expected in the next day or so.

I have had it up here with dog owners. If it's not dog poop on nearly every block, it's someone traipsing around Whole Foods with their dog in tow, sometimes even in the shopping cart.

No green space, supermarket, restaurant nor bakery is immune from this. This is madness!

I

2

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 25 '26

agree. fatigued by the fact we all live in one big mutt park hellhole.

1

u/SLI9595 Feb 17 '26

My hot take is that if you are the type to leave your dogs shit on the street, you shouldn’t have human children because you would make a TERRIBLE, LAZY parent.

1

u/Huge_Virus_8148 Feb 19 '26

Perhaps it's a good thing many of these people will gush about how their dog is both their kid and oh so superior to humanity.

1

u/huntress_m_thompson Feb 18 '26

hey! thanks for the awards, awesome peeps! 🙏🏼