Editor’s note: New York’s pooper-scooper law celebrates almost half a century

Dog poop can be maddening. New Yorkers who step in it know the frustration of having to scrape off their ballet flats or Jordans. Dog owners, under the law, have to pick it up. Many use recycled plastic bags. Others use surgical gloves. The more squeamish prefer a long-handled scoop, or risk getting a $250 summons for leaving it behind on public property. I remember when New York’s pooper-scooper law went into effect, 47 years ago today. I was 10 and complied with the awkward requirement of cleaning up after my Chihuahua Tito. It was seen as anti-dog by some New Yorkers, and so much so, the City Council passed on approving similar legislation. The law that did pass was introduced in the Legislature by state Sen. Franz Leichter and Assembly Member Edward Lehner, and with support from the newly elected Mayor Ed Koch.

When the law went into effect in 1978, it wasn’t the first. That distinction went to Nutley, New Jersey, which first required dog owners to pick up their pet’s poop in 1971. However, New York City’s law was a landmark, since it was the first for a major urban city, according to the Department of Sanitation, which enforces the law. Over the years, books have been written about the law, and the anti-dog sentiment around it has subsided. “What’s the big deal about picking up after a dog?” writes author Michael Brandow in his 2008 book “New York’s Poop Scoop Law: Dogs, the Dirt and Due Process.” “Proud poop-scooping pet owners of the present day have grown so accustomed to performing this task,” he adds, “that hardly anyone thinks about it anymore.”