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MINNEAPOLIS - Pet
owners who fail to pick up after their pets can no longer stay
under the radar at some Minnesota apartment complexes. Their
landlords are scooping up the evidence and sending it to a lab for
DNA testing to determine which dog did it.
No, it’s not a
far-fetched “CSI” episode — just a new biotech solution to a
perennial nuisance at rental communities. Instead of putting up
with poop, property managers can require their pet-owning tenants
to provide a DNA sample that’s added to a database and used to
identify offending pets and their owners. The result: Formerly
anonymous dog droppings now can be traced directly to Joe Blow’s
beagle in Unit 215.
JJS Property
Management of St. Cloud, Minn., which oversees 25 properties,
recently implemented the new PooPrint program at its three
“dog-friendly” locations.
“The reason we
started was unresponsible owners who chose not to pick up,” said
Jennifer Ulmer, property supervisor. “Obviously, it’s an
eyesore, and a health and safety risk. Our goal was not to
‘catch’ people but to make sure we’re maintaining our
buildings.”
And so far, it
appears to be working. The company has seen a decline in dog-doo
complaints since it started ID-ing the perpetrators — and fining
their lax owners on a sliding scale, depending on whether it’s a
first, second or third offense. (Ulmer declined to reveal the fine
amounts.)
All of JJS’
animal tenants — about 120 — are now registered in the
program, she said. “We are serious about it; we do send it in.
We’ve sent in maybe 20 samples, and we haven’t had a second
offense. Messes are almost obsolete now. It’s a huge
deterrent.”
That’s been the
case at other complexes, where the threat of being outed and fined
gives pet owners a big incentive to clean up their act, according
to Jim Simpson, president of BioPet Vet Lab in Knoxville, Tenn.,
which introduced PooPrint earlier this year. “Once the program
is in place, we test very little feces.”
To implement the
program, apartment building managers ask tenants to collect the
initial DNA sample from their own dog, using a cheek-swab
collection kit. The sample is analyzed by BioPet to create a
genetic profile for each dog, which is then uploaded to a database
for that rental property.
BioPet introduced
PooPrint on the East Coast this year, then expanded its efforts to
the Midwest; the program is currently being used by several
apartment complexes in Minnesota, Simpson said.
When tenant Kim
Hammett was notified that her building, Creek Point
Apartments in St. Paul, Minn., was going to start using PooPrint,
she said, “I thought it was a good idea.” Asked if it’s made
her more careful about picking up after Ruger, her pit bull, she
said she’s always done so. But she has noticed fewer dog
droppings on the grounds in recent weeks. “Since they did it,
it’s been a lot cleaner.”
Tammie Schweiker,
another Creek Point tenant, said she had no objection to providing
DNA from her golden retriever, Maynard. “I don’t mind — if
it’s going to help me not stepping on someone else’s mess.”
Tenants in
buildings managed by JJS also have responded favorably to the DNA
registry, which is outlined when they first sign a lease, Ulmer
said. “No one has chosen not to rent because of it.”
Harsh Minnesota
winters shouldn’t get in the way of enforcement, according to
Simpson. “We haven’t done any studies, but if it’s been
frozen for maybe a week, there should still be DNA.”
However, if the
excrement has spent two or three months under a blanket of snow,
it’s probably not going to be identifiable, he said. “Melting
snow would probably wash off the cells that carry DNA.”
Regardless of the
weather, poop profiling will continue at JJS properties, according
to Ulmer. “We intend to keep doing it,” she said. “Now if we
could only stop pet owners from having bad things happen in their
apartments.”
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