A SPANISH town is sending a ‘dog poo detective’ out onto its streets to crack down on owners who don’t clean up after their dogs.

Anyone caught leaving behind their dog’s mess in Colmenar Viejo, just North of Madrid, will face a fine of up to €750.

The detective – hired by the Town Hall – will patrol the streets in disguise, armed with a camera.

“We want dog owners who don’t clean up after their pets out of laziness or disgust, or because they simply don’t want to, start to think they are always being watched by someone,” said councillor Antonia Garcia.

“Dog faeces have parasites that children are exposed to, if the excrement is in children’s parks.”

The town – which has a population of 44,000 – launched the campaign this week by sending actors dressed as detectives onto the streets to explain the move to locals.

Elsewhere in Spain Town Hall’s are stamping down on irresponsible pet owners. Those caught leaving their dog’s mess on a street in Barcelona or Madrid can face fines of up to €1,500.

Are negligent dog owners a problem where you are? Comment below.

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42 COMMENTS

  1. Most owners let their dogs roam the streets – they are not “owned” in any sense of the word at all really. The vast majority are also not microchipped and so how can the authorities trace them? Follow each one back to its home? It’s an impossible task in most cases, unless the owner is caught red-handed (or brown-handed lol?) Perhaps it’s time to bring back the dog catcher, but the problem then is that the animal rescue centres are full to the brim…

  2. Send them to Jerez, Puerto and Rota – the poop leaders of Andalucia. Giving fines fines may actually settle the economic crisis! How about simply posting a warning sign as a deterrant? Does anyone have any pride about how their streets look? It sickens and embarrasses me.
    The dogs run this country!

  3. I think it would be a good idea to impose a tax on dog owners, with the exception of elderly people, people who lives in isolated areas or people which for psychiatric reasons would require the company of a dog.

  4. @Anselmo, regardless, I think you will find all dogs for the blind are chipped due to their training. Mind you, I have never seen one do a poop and do wonder if they do what happens about the clean up, unless some considerate person helps out.

  5. I think it is mandatory that all dogs wear an identification chip. Therefore there must be a list of owners of dogs wearing these chips.
    I forgot to include guide dogs in the exceptions to the tax.
    The idea is to prevent that dogs will be purchased as if they were toys.
    I find outrageous to pass in front of pet stores in which, after the window, one can see dogs puppies waiting to be bought, just as if they were toys animals and I wonder how many of these puppies end up being abandoned by their owners in few months or few years.

    The money raised by these rates could be used for shelter for abandoned pets, or for improve the conditions in which they are treated by municipalities dogs.

    Another advantage of the tax would be the reduction of mistreatment of dogs for hunting would be reduced dramatically.

  6. @Anselmo.

    I agree with what you say, but why not take it further. A law should be introduced that all puppies or dogs, if not chipped, must be sold with a chip indicating who it is registered to with severe penalties if the seller or owner is caught with a dog not chipped.

    This could start with a policeman now and then stopping a person walking a dog and asking for it’s passport.

    This would be a start ie; making people more responsible in owning a dog.

    Gradually over time this would take effect similar to people now carrying a poop bag. Got to start somewhere.

  7. Sadly all the above ideas will not work. Responsible owners are the issue, and without those it’s a waste of time. If a dog fouls on the pavement and is not chipped, how will the owner be traced? Also, dogs are passed around between people so casually in Spain. Every market has a dozen dogs to give away. I witnessed owners letting their dogs foul a beach today. No police around, no enforcement. No one batted an eyelid either, it’s almost normal here now.

  8. I must admit the sight of loose roaming dogs are now very few and most owners of large dogs tend to have them on a leash.

    Most dogs that I know of that have been passed over, mainly by expats returning to the U.K, have had the chip replaced into the new owners name.

    These are dog lovers and responsible people and that form of responsibility must start somewhere. Okay, one can point to sights they may have seen but it does not alter the fact that strict penalties as mentioned previously may be the answer to responsibility.

  9. Loose roaming dogs can be seen in any Spanish town, any day of the week. Even dogs that are owned still stroll around by themselves, see it all the time. Spain already has strict bylaws and penalties for dog fouling and yet it still occurs. Sme problems cannot be solved, and this is one of them.

  10. @Fred, don’t know where you live, but where I live don’t see any, perhaps the very odd one on the outskirts of the town but not in the town itself, that goes for cats also. The days of roaming cats and dogs in quantity are now few and far between and those that are caught are taken to a dog or cat compound.

    Perhaps I live in a more up market town?.

  11. @Caccia, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Spanish village that does not have some cats or dogs walking around.

    “Perhaps I live in a more up market town?.”

    Or, perhaps you are not very observant?

    Anybody else ever been to a cat/dog-free town/village/city in Spain?

  12. I had one of my places fenced in many years ago as my Wife was almost trapped in the house when I was not there when this big white wolf like dog was looking through the kitchen window on his back legs, lovely big blue eyes it had, lovely looking dog but he was a bit of a nightmare. Not long before an English person took it in! So many English people who take these dangerous strays in and isolate themselves from visitors. If there is a pest of a dog hanging around the local areas normally the Spanish will shoot them when no one is around, that is what they tell me and they almost all have guns in the Countryside around me. The guns also come out if any Gypo types come nosing around as well, I prefer the dogs to the thieves.

  13. Well the cats that I have seen around my place have been pets with collars and most have been nurtured due to knowing the owners. One can tell a pet cat from a stray. But I suppose one good thing about stray cats they do tend to keep the rodent population down.

    Not sure if there are still wild cats within the rocks at Benalmadena Port. Saw a women on one occasion pull up in van and a hoard of them came running out to meet her as she placed food down but quickly shot off if you tried to approach them.

    Anyway, straying from the subject now.

  14. This poo-detective idea is just a money-skimming scam for redundant workers. Spanish towns are infested with feral and semi-feral dogs AND cats. Cats tend to skulk out of sight, but dogs can be a nuisance around outdoor cafe tables. An early skill a camarero learns, is to chase the unfortunate creatures on their clients behalf. We have dubbed them “Hooli-dogs”. Once saw a pack of them pursuing and gnawing, the wheels of a little delivery van.
    All the chips in the world will never alter abysmal Spanish attitudes to animals.

  15. Don’t no where you folks live but are you talking of the past.

    Do you feel the poop bag is working to a certain degree and strangely today saw a large dog poop on the sea front and the female owner picked it up. It will finally catch on. I can only repeat that where I live no stray dogs are seen in the town, but the odd one perhaps on the outskirt but rare.

    So you have seen them perhaps where you live, is the place infested and what do you intend to do about it, why not complain to the council, but once again not where I live.

    End of story.

  16. Caccia, I don’t think a few strays is an infestation, but just about every town and village I’ve ever been to in Spain has a known population of stray cats and dogs. This is just a fact of life, and because you haven’t seen them down in Benalmadena doesn’t mean that they don’t exist elsewhere, or that people are living in the past (whatever that means).

  17. @Fred,

    This was a reply to stefanjo, ie:-
    “Spanish towns are infested with feral and semi-feral dogs AND cats”.

    Past and future are completely different as you well know.

    This morning sitting at an outside bar with a few friends I happened to mention during our general chat if anyone had seen any stray dogs lately in the town. Each one seemed puzzled by the question but all said no. They did ask why I had asked such a question to which I replied, “Oh, just interested, that’s all”.

    Fred you can believe this or not.

    Many years ago sitting again at a outside bar with friends we noticed a Golden retriever casually walking on the pavement towards the bar, came in and sat beside us. All commented what a lovely dog it was and were surprised to see such a dog unleashed, not a stray, due to it’s appearance, well fed and groomed. Finally someone decided to phone the police station and within a half hour or so two coppers arrived in a police car. One of the coppers immediately said he recognized the dog and knew who the owner was. After making a couple of phone calls, I suppose one to a local vet, the owner appeared and explained that by chance he had left the gate to his villa opened for a few minutes and the dog must have decided to have a walk about. He did say that in future he will put a collar on the dog with a tag with his telephone number in case it ever happened again.

    Regarding the cats, I did point out that they were in Benalmadena Port and not sure if a colony were still present.

  18. What I do know, Caccia, is that in my town, and yours too, there are are stray cats and dogs present. I asked a few friends over lunch the same question btw, and they looked amused and said it was a question that had an obvious answer. You too can believe this or not. Past, present, or future – there will always be stray animals.

  19. @Fred. I am not saying there are no stray dogs or cats. When I first arrived here in Spain there were quite a few stray cats around my town plus one or two dogs that ventured into the town (they also tend to shy from people) now and then but after the passing years cats have slowly been removed except for the one’s I had mentioned earlier and have not seen any stray dogs. As I have said one or two may still be around, but have seen no stray dogs exempt the odd one or two on the outskirts, but rare, but in the town no.

    There had been a time when someone would purposely dump a dog knowing that some kind expat would possibly take it in, but invariably it would be taken to a dog pound.

    Now however, an expat would inquire if anyone would have their dog if they intend to return to the U.K and if not it would be taken to a dog pound, or worse still be put down.

    Can’t really add further to this and no point in carrying on with this give and take situation. Stray dogs and cats World over is known but I stand by what I have said, in my town I have not seen any stray dogs. Not saying it could happen but as of today none.

  20. Caccia, if you are using the expression to mean “beginning from today”, then that would mean you would already know the future population of all stray cats and dogs in your town, which is clearly impossible. So, you are using the expression to mean “as of the present time” because you qualified your statement that you might see some stray dogs (in the future) and hence tomorrow might be different. In this context tomorrow is not “as of today”. Btw you also meant to say “Not saying it *couldn’t* happen”.

    So now you know why I went to Uni, and you didn’t lol. Good try Caccia, but epic fail on the linguistics I’m afraid.

  21. @Derek,

    No point in discussing anything with Fred, just a argumentative miserable old bugger. Best to ignore him.

    A typical person that has nothing to do but troll all the time and even has the audacity of placing you in the same mode as him. Tut, Tut.

  22. I take real exception to the word ‘strays’ they are not – they are abandoned, that is the awful part of this terrible problem. Unless Cacca lives on one of those awful Brit ghettos then I must agree with Fred. I reckon I have seen a damn sight more of Spain that most who post on this forum – dogs are abandoned all over Spain.

    I have personally seen the carcasses of 2 dogs tied to olive trees and left to die. I have seen so many dogs killed on motorway slip roads where they have been abandoned. Indeed one of our dogs, Fox was brought home by Angela one day, shivering, frightened and so very young, he grew into a very handsome dog that, ironically, many Spanish wanted to buy – because he is so handsome – I have never seen a truly ugly dog but I have seen far too many ugly bipeds.

  23. Fred & Stuart make a great team. Stu, could you please direct me to where I mentioned about stray dogs in Spain, I know Fred can’t read but surprised at your query and while you are taking a long long look perhaps you could also explain what your interpretation of a ghetto is. I take it that all expats Brits or otherwise congregate and you will find this all along the coastline, unless of course you personally, like Fred, live in the wilderness.

    As for Fred, I don’t even wish to waste my time on him.

  24. Derek, I don’t even bother replying to Fred, fed up cutting him to pieces. He can’t even read or answer to questions. Skips about like a small kid.

    The problem with OLIVE PRESS is that eventually nobody will reply in the READER COMMENTS due to Fred.

  25. Fred, your quote:-
    APRIL 9TH, 2014 9:57 PM
    “Caccia, I can help you. You mentioned stray dogs in the post above dated April 7th, 2014 11:39 pm. If you need any more help, just ask”.

    Need help from you, a deluded OU diploma dropout, said you cannot read or understand what has been written.

    Check my- APRIL 7TH, 2014 11:39 PM and APRIL 8TH, 2014 5:46 PM

    When a person cannot follow or understand what has been written they become augmentative and the best way to avoid them is not to answer their replies.

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