You might think there's a whole load of shite discussed in politics, but at Louth County Council, it's a serious issue. Stop laughing at the back.
The council are discussing performing DNA tests to identify dogs by their poo, or more accurately, to identify the naughty owners who are failing to pick up after their pooch.
There has been a spate of un-picked-up poos in the Louth area of late, with dog dirt left on streets and in parks around the county. DNA testing, according to one councillor, has been implemented in other European countries and has resulted in a 90% drop in, err, droppings.
Councillor Pio Smith, a Labour member for Drogheda, said: "I know we issued 506 licences recently and I am wondering if the council can consider exploring the possibility of having a database of dogs in Louth so we can do DNA testing of the dog foul and return the dirt to the dog owner along with a hefty fine."
"What we are doing at the minute simply isn't working and we need to change the way we are doing things. DNA testing is done in different councils and I would suspect we would solve the problem fairly quickly."
"There are a number of councils around London, France and Spain that do it and the results have been between a 70% to 90% drop in dog fouling and the cost was very minimal so I think it is something that we should consider," she added.
"It could also pay for itself if we built in the cost of the testing into the fine. I am asking the council to investigate the possibility of setting up a dog DNA database."
There might be some traction in the idea, too. Louth County Council's Director of Environment Services, Catherine Duff, has promised to "see how that could be done or whether it could be done", adding that "obviously, this is an issue and an ongoing issue so I will certainly discuss any opportunities to tackle it."
Are you going to make the "issue" pun or am I? Let's all do it.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Ireland