How Would You Have Handled This Bettendorf Dog Poop Disaster?

They call them man’s best friend.  But they can be your neighbor’s worst enemy.

An estimated 36% of Iowa households have dogs.  I am shocked by that number because literally every neighbor next to my house has a dog or dogs.  Yes, they are cute and can be fun.  They are also loud and can be poopy.

The latest development has me rethinking a scenario and looking up Iowa dog poop laws.  Something I never thought I’d do.

Dog Poop Laws In Iowa

Well, that’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.  But here we are looking up what the laws are for somebody who lets their dog drop a doo-doo on your lawn.

There is no overarching Iowa law.  The city determines the severity of the dog poo.

And unfortunately, at the scene of the crime, Bettendorf, Iowa, I can’t tell what the fine is for not picking up the dump.

According to codelibrary.amlegal.com (which is where Bettendorf hosts their ordinances), “It shall be unlawful for an owner or custodian to permit an animal to discharge excrement upon any public property, common area, common thoroughfare, street, sidewalk, alley, play area, park or private property unless the excrement is immediately picked up and disposed of in an appropriate refuse container.”

But it doesn’t actually say what the fine is.

Meanwhile, just next door in Davenport, Iowa, the city clearly states that violators could be fined $250-750 dollars for not doing things properly with dog doo.

What Would You Have Done During This Dog Poo Story?

It was a warm Sunday night (May 11) in Bettendorf, Iowa.  My child and I had just returned home from a bike ride to Whitey’s and the nearby park.

After putting our bikes in the garage, she went upstairs to shower.  As I was walking in, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a dog squatting on the road verge.  (The road verge is the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street that homeowners still need to maintain, even though it’s not the homeowner’s property.)

At first, it didn’t look like anybody was with the dog.  But then, as I walked towards the door, I realized there was a young boy “walking” the dog.  I use the quotation marks there because the dog wasn’t actually on a leash.

The boy was probably about 10-12 years old.  Still wearing his baseball uniform from earlier in the day and was more interested in looking at his phone than the dog.

As the dog finished his business, the boy started to walk away.

It was at this moment that I had to make a split-second decision.  Say nothing.  Say something.  Go full rage.  What to do?

I opened the door and asked the kid, “Are you going to pick that up?” He responded, “What?” I simply said, “The dog poo.” At this moment, I could see a brief look of panic on the boy’s face.

He then said, “I don’t have a bag, so I’ll go home and get one.”.  I said, “Thanks, bud.”, and gave him a thumbs up and went inside.

As I was walking upstairs, I instantly started thinking there was no chance this kid would come back.  But I, a grown man, shouldn’t follow this kid to his house to make sure he got a bag to pick up the poo.

I should have walked to the sidewalk after grabbing my own bag for him to use.  Or walked to the sidewalk to watch him go to his house to get the bag.  But I didn’t.  My little one was in the shower, and I wasn’t going to leave her alone without her knowing where I was.

So I made a fatal mistake, I trusted another human.  And now, dog poop remains firmly planted in my grass ready for me to step on the next time I mow the lawn.

You might be saying, “Why didn’t you go to the neighbor’s house after to tell the parents?”.  Cause snitches get stitches.  No, not that.  Because I have no idea where this kid lives.  I’m not very neighborly and don’t know anybody around me.  Probably because I write stories about them, so they don’t chat with me.

What would you have done with the doo-doo?  Or, what should I now do with the doo-doo?

Next time I’ll be ready to do something different than what I did…and then replay it in my head 500 times, just like with this incident.

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