Culling Poop in Taipei

When owners tell their pups to “jump”, most dogs will ask how high?

When I hear that phrase, I ask why? I mean, why risk a hip fracture? Why risk a twisted paw? Why risk leaving mother earth for even a split second?

When I bark “jump”, my owners know it’s time for them to jump off the couch and let me out, or in, depending on the circumstances. It’s to the point where I just move my jowls without making a peep. In the flash of eye, they drool and spring to life to open the door.

It’s a nice party trick but it’s got nothing on what Taiwanese dogs are doing to control their human counterparts. There’s gold in them there poops and Reuters has the full story.

TAIPEI (Reuters) – A city in central Taiwan is offering shopping vouchers to volunteer dog waste collectors in a bid to clean up a perennial problem caused by the large number of stray animals island-wide.

City officials in Taichung, which has a population of one million, said on Wednesday the environmental protection bureau would give vouchers worth 100 Taiwan dollars ($3) for every kilo of dog poo collected. In areas of the city especially affected, the reward will be for every half-kilo.

“By means of offering rewards, the bureau hopes to goad the public into spontaneous clean-up efforts that protect the environment,” the city council said on its website.

The problem began in the 1980s, when Taiwan saw a boom in pet dogs following economic success, but now residents complain about the canine menace and the government has been fighting the issue for years.

After all these years, who would have thought my bowel movements were a money making machine.