Animal poop has become a messy issue in Delcambre

DELCAMBRE — The Town of Delcambre has a message for pet owners — if your animal does its business in someone else’s yard or along the road or sidewalk, pick up your pup’s poop.
The town’s Board of Aldermen covered several issues at its May meeting on Monday, but it was the problem of residents not cleaning up after their pets that had the board wanting to send a message.
“Each person who owns or controls dogs or cats while walking must remove any feces on any sidewalk, street, residential yard or public area and must dispose of it in a legal manner,” Mayor Pam Blakely read from the meeting agenda.
“I make a motion for that, because I don’t own any dogs and I’m tired of picking up stuff in my yard,” Alderwoman Sarah Trahan said.
“I get calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week” about the problem, Blakely added.
Town attorney Gabe Duhon said the town already has ordinances covering the issue.
“We need to educate the people of this town to get pooper scoopers,” Blakely said.
“You have multiple ordinances in play,” Duhon said. “We just need to let our law enforcement officers know which ordinances there are so they can write tickets for this issue.”
“They don’t have to write a ticket, just come get your stuff out of my yard,” Trahan said.
“The penalty’s up to $500,” Duhon said.
Duhon said letting dogs loose to do their business is a violation of leash law ordinances, with a fine of not less than $25 and not more than $500 possible for each incident.
The bottom line, the board stressed, was pet owners need to pick up their pet’s droppings and dispose of them legally. If not, the police department will look to enforce the existing ordinances.