Dog DNA tests used to end poo problems
Source: Agencies |
July 8, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SOME US pet owners who failed to clean up after their dogs got a nasty surprise from apartment complex manager Deb Logan.
Using DNA evidence, Logan started fining the irresponsible dog owners US$100 per offense.
Logan, property manager at Twin Ponds in Nashua, New Hampshire, started using a dog DNA-testing system to reveal which pooches were leaving feces scattered about outside.
Logan says the DNA technology called "PooPrints," developed by BioPet Vet Labs of Knoxville, Tennessee, is working "amazingly" well for Twin Ponds, a 339-unit complex that is home to about 241 dogs.
"And for a property manager to not have to guess who the violator is, is absolutely wonderful," she said.
Dog-friendly Twin Ponds is BioPet's largest client using PooPrints to solve the mystery of who left the offending mound.
Using doggie DNA to solve the puzzle which dog left the feces is becoming increasingly popular in apartment complexes nationwide from Jupiter, Florida to Rockville Center, New York, where violators are fined up to US$1,000 per steaming pile.
At Twin Ponds, all tenants with a dog now must use a PooPrints pet DNA sampling kit when they move in. To set up a profile, owners come to Logan's office, swab their dogs' cheeks for a saliva sample, and Twin Ponds then sends that to BioPet, which creates a reference database that includes all the community's canines.
When a canine deposit is left on the communal grounds, Twin Ponds mails BioPet a sample of feces to be matched to a dog through their DNA. BioPet claims its testing has a 99.9 percent accuracy rate.
DNA is the individual biological coding that makes each creature unique. "It's really not a Big Brother-type thing, and we don't test a lot of feces," said BioPet president Jim Simpson.
"So the program is doing what we want it to do and what the property manager wants it to do - simply to encourage folks to clean up after their dogs, so they don't have to have employees and services out there doing it," he said.
An average dog leaves behind 125.45 kilograms of feces a year.
Using DNA evidence, Logan started fining the irresponsible dog owners US$100 per offense.
Logan, property manager at Twin Ponds in Nashua, New Hampshire, started using a dog DNA-testing system to reveal which pooches were leaving feces scattered about outside.
Logan says the DNA technology called "PooPrints," developed by BioPet Vet Labs of Knoxville, Tennessee, is working "amazingly" well for Twin Ponds, a 339-unit complex that is home to about 241 dogs.
"And for a property manager to not have to guess who the violator is, is absolutely wonderful," she said.
Dog-friendly Twin Ponds is BioPet's largest client using PooPrints to solve the mystery of who left the offending mound.
Using doggie DNA to solve the puzzle which dog left the feces is becoming increasingly popular in apartment complexes nationwide from Jupiter, Florida to Rockville Center, New York, where violators are fined up to US$1,000 per steaming pile.
At Twin Ponds, all tenants with a dog now must use a PooPrints pet DNA sampling kit when they move in. To set up a profile, owners come to Logan's office, swab their dogs' cheeks for a saliva sample, and Twin Ponds then sends that to BioPet, which creates a reference database that includes all the community's canines.
When a canine deposit is left on the communal grounds, Twin Ponds mails BioPet a sample of feces to be matched to a dog through their DNA. BioPet claims its testing has a 99.9 percent accuracy rate.
DNA is the individual biological coding that makes each creature unique. "It's really not a Big Brother-type thing, and we don't test a lot of feces," said BioPet president Jim Simpson.
"So the program is doing what we want it to do and what the property manager wants it to do - simply to encourage folks to clean up after their dogs, so they don't have to have employees and services out there doing it," he said.
An average dog leaves behind 125.45 kilograms of feces a year.
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