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Scoop-The-Poop Ordinance Bagged By Aldermen

By Ted Cox | May 18, 2016 3:57pm | Updated on May 20, 2016 11:34am
 Ald. Raymond Lopez is concerned about the effect the dog-poop ordinance would have on dogs and their owners.
Ald. Raymond Lopez is concerned about the effect the dog-poop ordinance would have on dogs and their owners.
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CITY HALL — An ordinance that would have called on property owners to scoop the dog poop from their yards on a daily basis was bagged by a parliamentary maneuver Wednesday in the City Council.

Aldermen Leslie Hairston (5th) and Raymond Lopez (15th) joined to defer the ordinance from passage for at least a month after it passed in committee last week.

Hairston cited concerns for businesses and landlords with multiple properties who might find it difficult to police their yards for dog droppings.

Lopez raised additional concerns about the "unintended consequences" for dogs and their owners.

"We have concerns both for the landlords and property owners who may be ticketed while not even having an animal, as well as the possible unintended consequences of families that are looking for rental opportunities and now find themselves additionally discriminated against because they have pets," Lopez said.

Lopez posited that landlords might develop a bias against dogs, given the requirement that they be responsible to keep their yards clean. That would potentially take families and "force them into a decision over whether or not to keep the animals."

Lopez said it could even lead to dogs being abandoned and that it "runs counter to our efforts trying to keep animals out of shelters and being euthanized."

Yet Mayor Rahm Emanuel defended the proposal Wednesday as a way of depriving rats of a primary food source.

"I'm in favor of the ordinance and the penalties, because it helps us manage a problem in our neighborhoods ... which is rodents," Emanuel said. "The fines will help us."

The proposed ordinance would subject property owners to the same $50-$500 fines dog walkers are prone to if they don't clean up after their pets.

Lopez said the city should simply enforce the current laws.

"We have ways to ticket and ways to deal with excessive dog feces and owners who are unresponsible for their animals," he said.

The two sides have a month to work on the ordinance before it's reconsidered at the June City Council meeting.

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