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Dog Poo vs Cognitive Dissonance....
Submitted by Jeff W on Sun, 03/03/2019 - 7:48am
This story starts like it's going to be a rant but, i assure you, it is not. I was tobogganing with my kids at Monte Cristo yesterday when I watched a nice person roll up on their skis with two dogs. One of the dogs took a dump at the bottom of the hill. Rather than clean it up (there were dog bags 10 feet away on the post) they just took their skis and tried to sling it in to the woods. For one thing, this seemed like more effort than cleaning it up and, on the other, it got me thinking about this podcast I was listening to the other day about human nature and cognitive dissonance. From the interweb: “Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors. This produces a feeling of mental discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance. “For example, when people smoke (behavior) and they know that smoking causes cancer (cognition), they are in a state of cognitive dissonance.” So, when this skiers dog poos (behavior) and they know that dog poo is disgusting and causes – not limited to but among other diseases – toxocariasis, (cognition) they are in a state of cognitive dissonance. I really love dogs. This isn’t an anti-dog person or dog rant. Most dog owners give a damn and are respectful. People that don’t pick up poo are just practicing cognitive dissonance by justifying in their minds the behavior and not thinking about the congition (ie. Poo everywhere) for the rest of us. You are not alone and I’m not calling you a bad person. Cognitive dissonance is how Trump got elected, why we don’t wear seatbelts sometimes, why people smoke, etc. It’s part of human nature. I just really wish people thought more about dog poo – particularly this time of year – and what happens to that poo in the spring. Do you think it magically disappears? No. People who live along dog walking routes, or play with their kids near trailheads, have to clean up a TON of it. Someone other than you cleans it up, often their kids play in/near it, and it’s f*&king gross. PLEASE think about other people and the use of the space where and when your dog poos. Ignore the devil that tells you to walk away and pay attention to that little angel on your shoulder that is appealing to your more responsible inner voice “it only takes a second to clean that up”. The angel is right. I mean no offense by any of this. Sincerely, JW p.s. yes I have better things to be doing with my time but I woke up early today. Town: Rossland, BC 
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I like this post and wholeheartedly agree. As a dog owner myself fighting those demons daily we( dog owners) should take collective responsibility. I propose a dog poo tax which fund a dog poo cleanup in spring!
A dog poo tax? Please tell me you're being sarcastic.
I completely agree with a dog poo tax on dog registration and think the only people who would oppose are the people that don’t clean up their mess.
I assume that the dog licence fee already pays for bags and bins, so a further tax means that the 'good' dog owners will just be paying for the 'bad'. The 'bad' owners will never change their attitudes. In the past, I believe that a group of dog owners do a pick-up session in the spring – usually the people that pick up anyway.
I'm part of the Bhubble prize committee. Every year we hold various competitions. One of which is the first person to start a dog poo thread in a new calendar year.
So you are a winner. 3rd March 2019
Remember people that ski, ride Bikes, and run are exempt From picking up dog poo.
Thanks Bob,
I'm just so impressed that we made it to March 3rd! Bhubble has a "prize committee"? And here i was embarassed that i came across like Andy Rooney.
Rossland's "dog poo paradox of suspense" has arrived once again: namely the narrative tension that remains effective even when the uncertainty of "if" a dog poo thread is eliminated, leaving only the "when". Rossland's repeat audiences know exactly how the story resolves. Some literary theories assume that true repeat audiences are extremely rare because, in reiteration, we usually forget many details of the previous poo thread and interest arises due to these holes of memory; others claim that any uncertainty remains even for these told-and-told-again poo threads because, during the annual spring immersion in the dog poo discussion, we forget fictionally what we know factually - that there will always be dog poo complainers - or because we expect fictional worlds - where dogs don't poo - to look like the real world, where exact repetition of an event is impossible. (adapted from the interweb.)
Jeff W: As for the person who flicked the poo with skis, I would respectfully argue that they were in fact cleaning it up, and that there was no cognitive dissonance at all. Rather, they were keeping more plastic out of the land fill, reducing volume from the landfill, keeping the trail clean for all users, adding organic matter to the forest ecosystem, and perhaps most importantly, demonstrating a sense of duty to self and community by pitching in to keep this trail clean.
I confess I wasn't there, but I'm a big advocate of shit flicking versus bag and loading our landfill.
Milty,
Shit flicking is not the answer: https://www.livescience.com/44732-eliminating-pet-poop-pollution.html (it does more harm than good in its "fresh" state)
Try a biodegradable bag... Also consider that Rossland uses surface water for drinking...
Can't resist not adding to the community shit chat!
Is shit harmful or just more harmful? That's like comapring equity with equality. They sound similiar.
Well if science says it's harmful, then I'm stopping all my gardening and composting. And no more walking barefoot in the bathroom or even in the yard, my neighbors have dogs. The sculpted fear of the unknown. Germs and bacteria in this case.
Forget the poo tax. Pet owners might get reported and be placed in the government 'Risk-driven Tracking Database'
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/kzdp5v/police-in-canada-are-t...
Hey wait a minute, I'm going to report the correlation between skiing and vehicle accidents.
The only logical solution is to increase taxes! The tax revenue could be used to hire a part-time or perhaps full-time city employee to remove the dog waste. This revenue could also be used to implement biodegrade dog waste bags at the trails heads for the dog owners who care to pick-up the dog waste. This would also align with Rossland's plastic bag ban. EVERYONE who uses the trails around Rossland will benefit from less or even zero dog waste on the trails. A slight increase in property taxes of around 8 to 12% is totally doable.
Professional shit-picker... who WOULDN'T want that title?
The city of Rossland pays $29 per hour to start with benefits. I could think of a lot of people who would jump at having a job walking trails picking up dog waste for union pay and benefits. I believe there is a group planning to petition the city for this very service along with the biodegrade dog waste bags.
I remember listening to an interview with a reporter in Vancouver. She had been a reporter for over 20 years, and was recounting a story about the most controversial story she ever wrote for the Vancouver Sun. It received the most comments, most vitriolic backlash, and she received hate mail about it for years afterwards. It was about closing an offleash park. WTF?!
I joked with a friend of mine that this was my first post on bhubble where i didn't try to sell anything, and that i might as well "cut my teeth" with a little dog poo post.
I simply cannot believe how many different points of view there are about dog poo and what to do with it. I just can't.
I am going to go back to living in my bewildered state of being where i cannot understand why people leave s^%t everywhere. Milty....you philosohpical treatise was amusing, but your assinine conclusion about plastic and landfills has done what you probably intended. I am chastened and will not try to have a reasonable discussion about this EVER AGAIN!
If i post again i will try and make sure it has nothing to do with anything as "subjective" as what to do with animal waste. I had no idea.
Good day,
JW, I must say THANK YOU for starting a completely reasonable and thoughtful discussion about a dirty, smelly, and disgusting issue. First, I am so sorry, I know exactly what you mean about the toboggan hill. Its so gross to try and have a lovely day out with the kids and fear that they are going to smear their hands in poop as they gleefully slide downhill. My kids have aged out of that, but i spend years taking a shovel to said tobaggan hill to shovel all the poop out of the way, while watching my neighbours with multiple dogs walk them there EVERYDAY. I believe I had a bhubble post years ago about basic math. x amount of dogs, times x amount of poops per day, time x days= way too much poop. The solution doesn't fall on the city or our taxes. The solution is that the dog owners be good citizens, and deal with their mess. As we ALL should, with ALL the pollution we create, poop or not. I have always had a dream to drop a piece of "biodegradeable" flagging tape on the ground for each poop that no one bothered to pick up. Imagine the plastic pollution rant about that! But really would it be a different thing? Kudos to the people who have organized work parties in the past to deal with the spring poop. You guys rock!
Keep your hand in the game by posting regularly. You never know when you'll hit another prize pot. We don't publish the subject matter, but if you want a hint about the next one (they like Honey).
You are right Bob. I will always have my "prize". So what is it? A lump of coal?
For my next forray - because i just LOVE prizes - i'm looking at this for a title:
"Entitlement Culture v.s Common Sense and Decency - Snow Removal, U-turns, Parking Spaces (or lack thereof), Dog Poo and Bad Dogs(too much, or too little?), Bears (______), Lack of Bananas at Ferraros - are these issues or merely first world problems"?
I would expect at least a free hot chocolate for this one dude.
The Dog Poo,the mean stares,the Underwear tree... All tactics used by the few who think Rosslands about to Explode into some World Class Destination.Meanwhile the rest of us just pick up our dogs crap and accept we have a few Jerks amongst us who spend life fretting about the big wave of development that’s gonna Ruin? Rossland and are rude towards newcomers and Tourists.
Or those that write scathing reviews of Red and Rossland on snow-forecast.com, huh? ...
Do you mean this lovely review by a Rossland resident?
February 26, 2019
Che Robinson from Canada
Red's got a lot of tree skiing with a lot of broken dangerous branches and many, many little surprises along the way. Having lived here for a while I suspect it’s left that way on purpose, Mountain bike trails are same: right at eye level you most likely find nasty spike branches and little surprises litter bike trails also. Locals don’t depend on tourism. In fact, they are, for most part, working at the lead mine which pumps some serious toxin into the local air all day everyday. Rossland and Red are two different places altogether. In the village you’ll find smiling faces and a brand new hotel and a couple of hostels even. I’d avoid nightlife in Rossland, As I said, it’s a rough lead minded attitude that hates newcomers and visitors.
https://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Red-Mountain/reviews