Thursday, January 14, 2010

Dogs

I may have been imagining this, but the last time I was in Venice it seemed like there were a lot more dogs.
For the longest time it was the cats who got all the attention.
In fact I remember 12 years ago when I came across an agency solely dedicated to facilitating the pet-adoption of Venice's stray cats.

I've seen dogs in Venice during previous visits, but last June it seemed like there was a dog around every corner, one or two on every vaporetto, and each time I ventured into a campo, there were several folks there with their canine pals.
Most of the dogs I saw were with their owners, but I did see a few that might have been strays.

There was another thing I encountered a lot this last trip out to Venice: yep, you guessed it - dog poop!
Holy moly! It seemed like it was everywhere!
Has anybody else noticed a dog increase in La Serenissima?

Whether or not there are more dogs,
the next time you're in Venice, take my advice:
watch your step!

4 comments:

Tamas Feher from Hungary said...

> Has anybody else noticed a dog increase in La Serenissima?

Apparently, yes:

"Dogs are the new children in Italy. With low birth rate across the country, and the flight of many young families from Venice due to high rents and low mobility, it seems Venetians are particularly starved for someone to spoil with their love..."

You can spoil a cat, but you get nothing in return, unlike dogs.

And, yes I saw a person walk away without cleaning up, after his dog laid a small anti-personnel landmine at a calle corner.

Bepi said...

GBC: Years ago I visited Amsterdam and spent an incredible amount of time looking down to avoid stepping in dog residue. I have heard that they have since made strides in it's immediate removal. In Venice I cannot count the times when canine excrement has been left to spread to the point where a square meter of walkway was seriously defiled and had to be covered in news paper and card board to make it passable. Here they sell a small plasic container that can be attached to a leash or the dogs collar containing several plastic bags. In Venice one selfish Great Dane owner can ruin your day.

Tamas Feher from Hungary said...

Here in Budapest the municipal gov't actually installed a network of dog poop bins with integrated free bag dispenser and guess what, nobody uses them!

People just say you'll have a lucky day if you step into dog shit. If so, I must wonder why I am not a lottery billionaire already?

(BTW, previously I thought the sidewalk dog residue problem was unheard of in western Europe for sure.)

Gondola Greg said...

Lucky?
Well, if it makes you FEEL better about it, you might be able to convince yourself. But come home and track that $#i& on the carpet and I'm pretty sure your wife, girlfriend, mother or someone else will remove that "lucky feeling" real quick.

Here in Newport I heard another gondolier once tell his passengers that if a bird crapped on them...it was good luck. That being the case - I think I'm the luckiest guy around. But again, no winning lottery ticket in MY pocket.