Woman In Serious Poo For Breaking Pooper Scooper Law
A pregnant woman in Maspeth, NY let her dog out to relieve herself and sat on the front stoop before picking it up. Keep in mind she is nine days overdue, which would lead me to believe bending down to pick up poo cannot be an easy feat. Bending down to pick up anything can’t be easy.
A Sanitation Department agent saw that she didn’t pick up after her dog and slapped her with a summons. She told the agent that she had just been sitting on the front stoop for a minute before getting up to go get a tissue to clean it up.
Here are the details from the NY Daily News.
She was approached by the officer about 10:30 a.m., minutes after her black mutt, Kimmy, pooped on a grassy patch in front of her father’s house, where she lives. Fernbacker was waiting for a ride to school.
“I told [the agent] I was going inside to get a tissue,” she said. “And he told me it didn’t matter.”
The officer asked Fernbacker to get her ID as he wrote the ticket up. The summons states that she “made no attempt to remove dog feces in a legal manner.”
Alicia Fernbacker is only 19-years-old, a full-time student at Queensborough Community College, and her husband may soon be deployed to Afghanistan. The $250 fine is a major hardship. She is going to try and fight the ticket, a court date has been scheduled in October.
It’s very easy to feel sorry for Fernbacker, but legally she did leave the poo on the grass. I will take her on her word that she was just sitting a minute to catch her breath and that she was going to pick it up. However, it still comes down to the fact that it wasn’t done immediately, how was the sanitation agent supposed to know she would do it? Going to do something and actually doing it are two very different things.
Do you think she should have been given the chance to pick up the poo? Or, she broke the law and deserved the fine? Give me a bark.
*Pic courtesy NY Daily News/ Joe Marino
I have a problem with her saying she was going to go inside and get a tissue, when you take a pet out to “relive” its self then you know, that means there is going to be a need for clean up. The young woman should have taken something with her. I see this all the time where someone doesn’t clean up after their pet. She should pay the fine. Makes one wonder if she will clean the baby after it goes poo….
I live in NJ and when my dog was doing her business outside a cop actually stopped to make sure I had baggies. I waved the bag over my head and said dont worry! They look for any reason to get you out here, I feel anyway.
I feel bad that she got ticketed but I guess out here you always have to be prepared right away. I know I hate it when I see poo not cleaned up, it drives me nuts!
Boo hoo,
When your dog goes outside you have to be prepaird to pick it up!
And she’s 19 with a baby and a dog. I think she has a lot of responibility.
Good. I am so sick of pigs who don’t pick up poop. I filled an entire grocery bag, ENTIRE BAG, of poo just from the 100 foot stretch on my corner. She had no intention of picking up the poop, Max is right, if she was going to pick it up she’d have brought a baggie with her. And a tissue? For that size dog???? Gimme a break, she is an adult, married and soon to be a mom, she needs to pay the fine and next time pick up.
Max, that was an utterly ridiculous statement you just made.
I believe that if the yard wasn’t covered in poo, that shows that someone there is responible enough to pick it up. She should have been given the chance to clean up instead of getting the ticket. I know I’ve forgotten a bag before and had to go back in for one, so sue me.
Jet to each his own, but have you stepped in poo… Its not fun… We pick up after our dogs. Don’t want to sue you, just I have my right to my statement in an open form. Right? Right!
I am torn on this one. On one hand she was irresponsible and should pay for it which would help her remember to not do it again. On the other hand, she is overdue and surely under a lot of stress. Would it really be so bad if she was given a chance to clean up and warned not to do it again?
My final decision is that the fine is the right way to go. Simply because almost anyone could think of/make up an excuse for not picking up poop any given day. If you let one excuse fly, why not accept others, too? Soon, no one would be doing it. Not good!
When you take your dog out for one of ‘those’ walkies, you have to be prepared for the ‘deposit’. A poo baggie should be in your hand for pickup. A tissue isn’t gonna help with a dog that size, so the excuse was kind of lame. It’s true that it’s not fun to bend over when you are THAT pregnant, but she’s young and appears to be in good health. Pregnancy isn’t an illness. Sorry to sound so tough, but I live in a community for people over 55 and just about everyone here has a dog. Even 80 year olds on scooters can pick up dog poo. For them, it’s hard, but they do it for the community’s sake and for the privilege of owning a dog.
She should have taken a bag out with her. Being pregnant is no excuse for being irresponsible. If it’s difficult for her to bend or kneel to clean up after the dog there are long handled pooper scoopers available, she should have bought one.
People not cleaning up after their dogs really gnaws at me. When I walk Molly around the neighborhood I always carry three bags, just in case she goes more than once. The people in my neighborhood are pretty good about picking up after their dogs. I also keep a supply of bags in the car in case there aren’t any available at the park or where ever else we might go. Time and time again in the parks we usually go to I see piles, even fairly fresh ones right at the bag dispenser and there are bags in it.
I don’t feel sorry for her at all. People need to learn responsibility and if it takes a $250.00 fine then so be it.
I am confused. It was on her dad’s lawn? You guys have laws that say you have to pick up the poop in your OWN yard in a timely manner?? I’m glad I live in the south, where what you do on YOUR property is your business. I hope she wins in court. What a ridiculous fine for a little bit of dog poop.
I think it is too easy to judge someone else and predict what they may or may not do. I also wondered how a ticket could be given on private property, but as Grandpa says, “It takes all kinds”
Sammy & Princess…The house is in the city, with houses close on either side. There is a sidewalk directly in front and then a patch of lawn, which is city property.
The article makes it a bit confusing if you don’t know what the set-up is. Hope that clarifies it a bit.
Whether or not it’s the law to pick up after your dog, in your own yard or elsewhere, it’s still the decent thing to do.
I don’t know about other people but I don’t want piles of poop in my yard even if it is from my dog. If anything it’s a matter of hygiene and cleanliness. Since I clean up in other people’s yards I’m darn well going to clean up my own.
You shouldn’t do the right thing just because it’s the law, you should do it because it’s the right thing to do, providing you know right from wrong.
I live in a condo with a shared yard and I too can attest to the fact that neighbors who don’t clean up their dog’s poo is a problem (to say the least.) I imagine that the police get a lot of calls on this issue, and are trying to be proactive rather than reactive. I think it would have been more appropriate to warn her and make sure she cleaned it up than to issue a ticket–that’s just going to leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouths.
We have 3 cockers, and we ALWAYS pick up after them, and I too am sick and tired of people who are not responsible about picking up after their dogs. But I know from experience, that jumping right up to do something when you are that pregnant isn’t easy, and I feel that she should have been given a warning and a chance to pick up the poo before being slapped with that big of a fine. After that, if it happened again, then fine away.
You got to be kidding me! Do you need to pick it up with in a certain amount of time? There have been times I forgot to take a poop bag with me on walks but I always made sure to go back and pick it up. They should have given her a chance to pick it up. I could understand them giving her a ticket if she had done it in the past and the neighbors were complaining. But in this circumstance I think a warning would have been sufficient.
I too think she should have been prepared when she let the dog out but I also think the guy could have given her a chance to clean it up while he waited.
What a crock of s**t! I wnt 2 weeks over due with my 1st and can tell you how lousy I felt. Even taking out the dog was a pain! Give the girl a break and get down off your soapboxes! Im so sick of people being so quick to judge! The officer should have given her a break. It was on her own property was it not? I myself have forgotten a bag, or have had the dog crap one more time then bag capacity and had to go back to pick up. Seriously, arent there more pressing issues in society than dog crap?
Hey Mollydog! So glad you are so pooplictically correct!
I think she should have gotten the ticket. I’m sick of people who just leave the poo there. Her excuse of a tissue is lame. A warning doesn’t do anything. A fine will.
I am on both sides of this fence…..
I believe in her current state, that he should have said “please get whatever you have to do right now to pick this up or I will be forced to write you a ticket”
This will be your final warning or otherwise next time you will be fined.
There have been plenty of times I forgot my bags. But I walk 3 dogs seperately. So if I forgot the bag on the first one, I would just pick it up on the next trip with the next dog.
I live in an apartment complex where others dont pick up their dog poo and it completely disgusts me. I have turned them in to the lanlords and nothing is done. Forever I was cleaning up other peoples poo…. I refuse to do it anymore….
It almost makes me want to not care too and leave it be.
I never clean up my dogs poop when it is in my yard or other peoples yard. No one cares.
Just how fast are you supposed to pick this up?! I mean I always pick up after my dog but it takes me a 1 minute or 2 to dig out the poop bag out of my catch all dog walking bag. I sure hope someone wouldnt give me a ticket while I am fishing out a bag!
Okay my first question is who mows the lawn the city or her dad? If it is her dad then the lawn area if directly in front of the residence is her dad’s property and not the city’s. Now I must ask how many of you who have commented are men or women who have not had children? Let me tell you as the mother of three and grandmother of two that when you reach that ninth month you are totally exhausted just getting out of bed each morning. The farther into a pregnancy we get the harder it is to do everyday things. We are unbalanced and moving is difficult, bending over? near to impossible. I went nearly a month past my due date with my oldest and let me tell you that I wished I had one of those chairs the older people get that assist in getting up because I could not sit on anything soft like a recliner or sofa because I could not get up. Yes one of those scoopers would be nice, but what if they never even thought about getting on, you know never crossed their mind. I say give her a break, gosh she is nine months pregnant and as I’ve said bending over is impossible.
My first thought is she was waiting for a ride the dog followed her out the house. She was probably going to send the dog back in the house (I hope) when her ride arrived. She probably wasn’t prepared for what happened.
If she doesn’t have a previous ticket or warning and the ground looked like these people do pick up after themselves she should have gotten a warning.
ok so she has a good excuse being VERY PREGNANT and probably stressed out so i don’t want to be quick to judge …
in a city laws are different and so are people… i live in FL … no one cares about picking up poop here… everyone has dogs and no one picks up anything….. there’s enough rain to wash it all away every few days….
i do too forget all about how other states are when i travel with my dogs… i try to take them out of the car in places that are deserted….
i don’t understand why the agent didn’t want to give her the benefit of the doubt… and he saw that she is pregnant and maybe it’s was not easy considering she is over due and probably really stressed out …
but but but
we don’t know the WHOLE STORY HERE…
what if she was a rude…B***ch to him? then i could see why he was a jerk and slapped her with the fine..
i still think it sucks to be fined for your doggies poop… but hey sometimes you win some and you lose some…
we all live and learn….
Ouch, people are being kind of harsh. Sounds like she is very pregnant.
It also sounds like she was right outside her parent’s home. I’d hate to have someone come up to me at my house and ticket me for not picking up my dogs poo. I could see if she was walking down the street and said that she had to go back and get a tissue/poo bag, but being right in front of her house. I think its plausible that she just wasn’t prepared because the poo bags were right inside.
Also, my dogs don’t poo everytime they go out. Maybe the pup poo-ed earlier so she wasn’t expecting a second round.
The officer should have waited until she left the stoop. People shouldn’t get so paranoid to catch the poo mid-air.
If we find so many reasons for being in trouble because of a dog guess what might happen to the dog…..You guessed it. They might get rid of it. Be a little more sensible give them a warning first ( first time ofenders
I think that the agent should have waited and allowed the woman to go inside and get a bag. A little kindness goes a long way. We were once in downtown Cincinnati walking our dog. We walked onto Fountain Square. We saw NO signs saying that dogs were not allowed on the Square. (There may be some now, as the Square has changed.) A police officer VERY Rudely came up and told us to remove our dog immediately. He could have simply told us dogs were not allowed on the Square, and accomplished the same goal. Instead, we have NEVER walked downtown again. The City of Cincinnati is begging for tourism, and I fully support Law Enforcement, but I don’t need to be treated rudely, when I saw no signage and a simple request would have been fine. This Agent could have allowed this woman to go inside and get a bag. There are times to PUSH an Issue, and times to say, hey this is the law, I understand this is difficult for you, I will wait while you follow through. She will now forever remember the fine (like we never have walked downtown again), but instead could forever be remembering an act of kindness. Then the Agent could have firmly told her: keep bags by the front door, out of reach of the baby. (Actually Walgreens sells bags that can be used for poop and soiled diapers.)
top 10 friendly dog cities (based on google)
San Diego
Long Beach, Calif.
Carmel, Calif.
Portland, Ore.
Seattle
Chicago
New York
Orlando, Fla.
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Austin, Texas
and i do have to add that being from FL i’ve been to south beach a few weeks ago and everyone has a dog on their leash walking around… so i would add SOUTH BEACH to that list
Wow, some of the comments have been really harsh! The girl is nearly 9 1/2 months pregnant. She didn’t pick up her dog’s poo in a timely manner for whatever reason (and I think the pregnancy reason is a pretty good one- it IS hard to bend over when that pregnant). A warning would have been plenty, in my opinion.
As much as it irritates me when people don’t pick up after their dogs, I really think there are more important things for police to be doing than monitoring poo clean up.
Katie I agree with you 100%, well said…. I always believe “It is not what you say but how you say it”
Oh give me a break. Must be men posting on here because women know that it is so hard to bend over in your 9th month without losing your balance & falling on your face. The guy that wrote the ticket should have been a gentleman & offered to assist her in someway or given her time to go get something to clean it up. It’s bad enough she is 9 months along her husband is being deployed to make all our lives including his easier & this jerk goes out of his way to add to their stress. She should sue him for harassment. I’m behind her 100%. It’s to bad men can’t have babies they would be more willing to look over the small stuff. But then again men are to weak to put up with carrying a baby for 9 & 1/2 months much less go through labor. He saying she was going to get something to clean it up is equivalent to a man saying he’s going to take the trash out. Give them both time & it will get done.
It was bad timing if you ask me… If I were the “cop”, I would have waited the 30 seconds it was going to take her to go inside and bring a piece of tissue to pick it up. If she was as pregnant as she looked in the photo, give her a break!! If the didn’t pick it up immediately THEN give her a ticket. If I was that pregnant and my dog was sniffing in circles inside my house, I would have taken him out too at that moment to relieve himself where it was proper, and THEN go inside pick a tissue or whatever and pick up the poo.
VERY WELL SAID Mother of 4!!!!!!!!