Scoop it up

Ah, spring! Flowers, warmer weather, nature’s resurgence, the fragrant smell of dog poop littering sidewalks.
Every year, civic-minded people around the country remind slovenly pet owners to clean up after their animals. “Not only are residents required to keep dogs ‘at hand’ and under control when walking them within the borough, but borough ordinance also requires you take ‘poop matters’ to hand as well,” Mifflinburg Borough Manager Margaret Metzger wrote in a recent newsletter.
Are you one of these people? Are you and Fido the Hansel and Gretel of dog droppings: each walk another chance to landmine the sidewalk?
Just know, dear purveyor of poop, that you’re not only ruining an afternoon for the poor schlub who steps in your ingracious leavings, you may well be ruining the environment. According to ThePoopDetective.com (my new favorite Web site), “rain often flushes pet waste left on trails, sidewalks, streets and grassy areas into the nearest waterway.”
According to these fecal sleuths, thousands of miles of U.S. rivers are unsafe for swimming thanks to poop. And dogs are third or fourth on the list of bacterial polluters.
Maybe pooper scoopers aren’t the most fashionable spring accessory, but is looking cool really worth dirtying the environment? Just pick it up, America. As Capt. Planet would say — the power is yours!
In other animal news, who seriously owns “free-range” domesticated rabbits? Mifflinburg borough officials are reminding residents to keep a leash on their wayward bunnies. Apparently, some rabbit owners have been giving their pets free roam to terrorize neighboring gardens. These rabbits have the audacity to coax children outside with their fuzzy cuteness and then, right as little Timmy or Suzie scramble outside, eyes ablaze with glee, they coldly hop away. How rude!
Please keep rabbits, chinchillas, rats, sheep, goats, giraffes, zebras, duck-billed platypi and all other pets confined to your own property.
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Steve Benner, Mifflinburg project manager, said the community park is well on its way toward a refurbished basketball and tennis court.
Benner said workers are installing new hoops, posts, asphalt and lines at the Park Road facility.
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As you may or may not know by now, May has officially been deemed “History Month” in Union County. That means you need to go out and get your history on. Go to UnionCountyHistoricalSociety.org to find out what to do. The county is ripe with great stuff. Check it out. I recommend the Slifer House Museum’s grisly and exciting exhibit on death.
-- Damian Gessel covers Buffalo, Hartley, Lewis, Limestone and West Buffalo townships; and Hartleton and New Berlin boroughs in western Union County. He also covers the Mifflinburg Area School District and Union County commissioners. E-mail your news to him at dgessel@dailyitem.com.

May 15, 2008 09:34 am