Dane Cook in trouble for dog poop
Dane Cook recently spent time in a Beverly Hills courthouse fighting allegations that his mini-Pinscher, named Beast, poops all over his apartment complex. The management of La Fontaine in West Hollywood took the comedian to court to have him evicted on grounds that he was not properly cleaning up after his dog."Neither he nor his girlfriend pick up after the dog," said a source. "They've sent him three notices so far over the last year warning him he'll be evicted, and they have video. The neighbors all hate him."
Cook’s rep, Ina Treciokas, told the press in April: “Dane vigorously denies the allegations in the complaint and is looking forward to complete vindication through the legal proceedings.”
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On Tuesday, the building manager took the stand and told the court that the actor is a serial offender, despite the signs in the gardens warning against animals pooping on the lawn. He also said he noticed "recurring small black poop being left behind in the backyard." The manager is alleged to have video footage of Cook's pooch committing the offense.Cook faced a trial by jury and he was found guilty 11-1. His landlord can now officially evict him.
Dog poop contains common pathogens such as tapeworms, roundworms, cryptosporidium, salmonella, e.coli, and many others. The owners should always and after picking up dog poop hands should always be washed.
Scooping Poop
“Pick up your dogs’ droppings.” I’ve seen the street signs for years, but I always thought it was the yuck factor. As I’ve grown up and gone through high school biology, I’ve learned that it’s not just the yuck factor, it’s also the sick factor. Dog waste on the sidewalk is a significant contributing factor to the spread many disease, bacteria and protozoa. Some of the common pathogens are tapeworms, roundworms, cryptosporidium, salmonella, e.coli, parvovirus and many others.
One of the worst culprits is the tapeworm. They are the single most common infection transmitted by discarded dog poop in United States.
Tapeworms are caused by the ingestion of flea larvae, but also can be caused if an owner tracks flea larvae-contaminated dog poo into the house and a pet is exposed. In the veterinary clinic I work at during the summers, tapeworms are commonly referred to as rice worms. They’re easily treated with flea preventative and tapeworm treatment, but even more easily prevented by properly disposing of animal poop.
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Doggie doo is also an environmental pollutant. If the waste is not picked up it will run into the sewers with the rain. This leads to contaminated streams and seawater.
According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, Americans owned 68 million dogs in 2000, and 40% of these dogs were large dogs over 40 pounds. This adds up to a large mess if owners don’t clean up after their pets.
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Pet poop is a problem, but what’s the solution? Many cities have laws concerning scooping poo. Most states will issue a ticket ranging from $25 to $200 for leaving a dog’s business on the sidewalk. Australia has even gone so far as to have their own plain clothes poop police approaching irresponsible owners to change their behavior.How do we take care of it? Common recommendations are to carry a “doggie doo-doo” sack along when taking a pet out for a walk. Using flea preventative will help prevent a pet from developing tapeworms from ingesting any flea larvae on their own skin, but they are still susceptible to flea larvae in the environment. Annual distemper/parovirus vaccinations from a licensed veterinarian will help protect dogs from parvovirus, which is spread through fecal material.
Most importantly, wash your hands after picking up animal waste. Otherwise get ready for those tapeworms.
Cocoa Beach closer to dog-dining ordinance
Florida Today reports that Cocoa Beach could become the first beachside community in Brevard County, Florida, to allow restaurant patrons to bring their dogs to dinner (instead of leaving them outside in the rain, left).Tonya Morgan, general manager at The Surf, which brought the request for the ordinance before the commission, said, "We thought that dogs were allowed on the patio. We never realized that we were breaking the law.”
Morgan said they wanted to legally do what they had already been doing at the request of customers, who come to the restaurant patio area with their dogs.
The commission voted 4-1 in favor of the measure. Councilman Ken Griffin, the lone dissenter, said, "I oppose this. I wasn’t raised up eating with dogs."
Doggie dining has pros and cons. The Florida state guidelines seem like a reasonable compromise.
No, not eating dogs ...
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Chicago last night approved an ordinance that will allow doggie dining -- allowing dogs to accompany their owners to sidewalk cafes.The new doggie dining ordinance will take effect Jan. 1. Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), who co-sponsored the ordinance, said doggie dining would "go a long way to restoring our prestige as one of the most dog-friendly cities in America."
He added that it "allows restaurant owners to decide for themselves if they wish to allow dogs at their sidewalk cafes. ... The market will shift with consumers. Restaurants that find that dogs are not so popular will likely eliminate those options."
So no more being left in the backyard for some Chicago pups. I approve, as long as some very specific guidelines, like those practiced in Florida, are followed.
Really, it's all about the pictures
The Chicago Tribune reports that legislation signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich allows the city to make legal what waiters from Lincoln Park to the West Loop have allowed with a wink and a nod. A proposed ordinance to allow dogs to accompany their owners while dining is expected to be reviewed by an aldermanic committee this month.Chicago Ald. Eugene Schulter (47th), a co-sponsor, was quoted as saying Friday, "We're a world-class city and people have been doing this for a long time, so why not allow them to do this in a regulated way so it's safe and clean?".
The proposed ordinance would prohibit dogs from sitting on a seat, table or countertop; forbid employees from handling the dogs; mandate cleaning up all spilled food among customers; and provide disposable towels and liquid hand sanitizer at every table that permits dogs.
The state law signed Friday states that no pet dog can be inside any restaurant or in any area where food is prepared. Also, a restaurant will have the right to refuse to serve a dog's owner who fails to "exercise reasonable control" over his four-legged friend and a restaurant can refuse service if a dog threatens the health or safety of anyone at the eatery.
The proposal sounds reasonable and is similar to what has been implemented in Florida and what we've advocated.
I really just do this to post pics of my dogs
Ed Murrieta writes about the doggie hospitality in the News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington. As for the health department regulations that prohibit dogs in taverns and restaurants? The owner of the Shamrock Tavern on Pacific Avenue was quoted as saying, "Well, they came in once and told us to keep him out or they’d fine us."
Mike Davis, a food safety supervisor for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, said his department doesn’t go looking for dogs, but “we cite them when we see them. They have their pet sitting in the corner. The code says ‘no.’”
Murrieta then lists the local spots that are doggie friendly. It may be better to lay out some rules so everyone is playing on the same field.
Awesome alliteration: Denver doggie dining
Denver is the latest big city to pursue doggie dining.In response to a petition on behalf of a local café, Denver Department of Environmental Health spokeswoman Ellen Dumm said the meeting was pushed back to Sept. 13 so the city can research possibilities for a variance or a rule change, "We would rather have a rule change. That would allow restaurants that are interested in doing it to pursue it."
We say, the evidence suggests that dogs can and should be allowed on restaurant patios -- but only at the discretion of restaurant staff and only if staff and owners follow the Florida protocol.
Doggy Dining
Pictured: Restaurant in Nîmes, FranceIn France dining with your dog is a part of every day life. Dogs go in restaurants, grocery stores, and even on trains with their owners. The other night at dinner at a table next to us, a couple sat with their ‘tween son and a tiny doggy that they passed from person to person until the food came. Then he was expected to sit calmly under the chair. He started yelping quickly afterwards when a very big dog came wondering around the restaurant’s terrace looking for handouts (see above photo).
We are the owners of two dogs and two cats who live with us in Kansas. Our lives would be more convenient if we could live like the French and both walk our dogs and sit in restaurants with them on the patio. We used to be able to do this at one of our favorite restaurants in Manhattan, but the management there recently changed and they told us we would have to attach the dogs on the outside of the railing rather than have them at the table with us. They even brought us cups of water for the pooches so they wouldn’t get too hot. Sadie, who was a puppy at the time, dug up their herb garden, and we decided we’d better leave.
Around the same time that rule changed last fall, a reporter called Doug and asked what he thought about the doggy dining laws in Florida. My reaction was that I would frequent a restaurant that allowed me to bring my dog, but if I were a restaurant owner, I would not allow dogs on the patio. Beyond the liability issues of “What if a customer’s dog bit one of my staff or other clients?” I see people do all sorts of strange things with their pets. I confess, I too am guilty of letting my dog lick my plate, but some people even share their food while they’re eating it. As a restaurant owner, knowing I am liable if someone gets sick in my restaurant, and knowing that dogs do often eat poop and live to …err.. tell about it, I wouldn’t trust that a customer wouldn’t sue me for their E. coli poisoning if they got sick from their dog’s germs. The U.S. has strict liability laws when it comes to food safety. If I served the food with poop, I’d be hard pressed to prove where it came from.
