Let's harshly fine people who don't pick up after dogs

Regarding the letter on filthy playgrounds (T.O. Acorn, July 11), Jennifer Levin, you are right on.

For years I've been saying that the name of this town should be changed to Thousand Turds.

Everywhere you walk in the neighborhoods of this city you will see pile after pile after pile of dog poop. These are your friends and neighbors who are leaving their dog's poop on your lawn and sidewalk.

I've seen them do it.

The dogs are all on leashes. On occasion, I see dogs in their front yards with their owners--off leash--but no packs of strays running loose, defecating on the sidewalk or lawn or curb. So it's not like the owner doesn't know what the dog is doing.

What is it with the pigs--pardon me, people--of this city, that they refuse to pick up after their own dogs? Don't they know that they're hurting their own neighborhood, their own neighbors?

Dogs are a problem in cities, not because of the dogs, but because the people who own them fail to act responsibly and considerately.

Anyone walking a dog in this city should be required to carry a poop cleanup bag, and anyone walking a dog without a cleanup bag should be fined and publicly scorned by the community.

I suggest that the City Council consider an amendment to the municipal code: Dog owners/walkers who fail to pick up their dog's poop should be fined $500 per incident. And a $250 bounty should be offered to anyone who catches on video a clear record of a dog owner who lets his dog poop, then leaves without cleaning it up.

The city can pay for the rewards out of the revenue from the fines and maybe even balance the city budget, considering the thousands of piles of poop on our streets. Sharon Branigan Thousand Oaks