WESTSHORE DOG POO NOTE-LEAVER STRIKES 14TH TIME, NOW LAMINATING
The notes started in June. They are now laminated and cable-tied to fenceposts.
A Westshore resident has escalated a months-long campaign against dog fouling on the Esplanade by laminating their passive-aggressive notes and cable-tying them to fenceposts. Each note is numbered. Each note is dated.
The latest, Note 14, appeared on Tuesday outside a Meeanee Quay property. It reads, in full: "To the owner of the CHOCOLATE LABRADOR. We know it's you. We have seen you. Bag it or we escalate. This is your final warning (fourth)."
Local Prue Callaghan, 58, walks her spaniel Bettina past the notes daily. "I don't even own a chocolate lab! But every time I go past Note 9 Bettina squats and I have a small breakdown. It's like being told off by a fencepost."
A neighbour two doors down, who asked to be called "Trev, but not the Trev from the tennis club", said he'd seen the note-leaver once, at dawn, in a hi-vis and slippers. "Had the laminator in a chilly bin. Bloody committed. Could be Denise."
Napier City Council said it had received complaints about both the dog poo and the notes. A spokesperson confirmed dog fouling was a bylaw matter, and that laminated signs on council fenceposts were "technically also a bylaw matter, just a sadder one". They declined to say which bylaw was winning.
Note 15 went up Wednesday afternoon. It refers to a golden retriever by name.
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Reader Letters
Trev_Hornby
If dog owners can't bag it, I'm all for laminated notes. Public shaming works!
couchgremlin
Lol.
Garry (Halswell)
Back in my day, people had the decency to clean up after their pets. Laminators weren't even needed because folks had common sense and respect for one another. It's a bloody shame to see how things have changed. Now we need bylaw-minders with power tools. I remember the Esplanade being clean enough to picnic on—minus the poo patrol.
ropeable_dave
Mate, that's not what they said. They're not trying to shit on anyone's fun, just asking for a bit of bloody responsibility, eh? I've seen the notes too, and whoever's leaving them isn't wrong. Picking up after your dog is just good manners.
Anne_Westshore
This whole laminated note thing is a piss-take. Councils should focus on the real rooted problems like potholes or the bloody traffic lights at Tennyson St. Priorities, people!
conspiratorial_ken
Do you reckon it's the council in disguise? Trying to root out offenders by pretending to be a random vigilante? It wouldn't be the first time the council has done something sneaky to enforce a bylaw.
font_fanatic
The sign's font choice says more about the person than the message. Everyone knows Arial is the least intimidating.
tired_in_riccarton
Honestly, who cares about the font? It's about stopping irresponsible pet owners. Focus on the actual problem.
sarcastic_sue
What happens when they run out of lamination? Do they move on to embroidery or skywriting?
lookoverthere_lou
Antarctica's melting and we're still talking about dog poo? Great priorities, everyone.