# Where in Spain not full of dog mess?



## Elpuppy (Dec 6, 2014)

I am trying to find a place in Spain where the streets and beaches aren't full of dog s***t.

You might laugh. But back in Oz, it's relatively rare, esp. on the beaches. In Spain, it's pretty crazy. I'm wondering if this is a fruitless task. 

So, are there any Spanish cities/beaches that are (relatively) free of this problem?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Elpuppy said:


> I am trying to find a place in Spain where the streets and beaches aren't full of dog s***t.
> 
> You might laugh. But back in Oz, it's relatively rare, esp. on the beaches. In Spain, it's pretty crazy. I'm wondering if this is a fruitless task.
> 
> So, are there any Spanish cities/beaches that are (relatively) free of this problem?


Every beach I've been to in Spain is *completely *clean of this sort of mess as dogs are banned from most beaches here.

Whilst there is a problem in some towns, they are getting better. Some towns even provide free bags for their dogs.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Elpuppy said:


> I am trying to find a place in Spain where the streets and beaches aren't full of dog s***t.
> 
> You might laugh. But back in Oz, it's relatively rare, esp. on the beaches. In Spain, it's pretty crazy. I'm wondering if this is a fruitless task.
> 
> So, are there any Spanish cities/beaches that are (relatively) free of this problem?


dogs are banned from most beaches, so it _shouldn't_ be much of an issue anywhere tbh, and popular beaches are cleaned by machine, anyway

as for towns - it's a problem to one degree or another pretty much everywhere

in my town there's a huge fine if you don't pick up after your dog - but you have to be actually caught by the police

the threat of a fine has had some effect though, because although you still see some here & there, it's nowhere near as bad as it was when we first came here


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## GuyverII (Oct 27, 2014)

Valencia is one giant dogsh*t pile. Since the cutbacks, the streets in our area are only cleaned once a month. Five years ago it was 3-5 times a MONTH. Embarrassing, to say the least. 

My wife commented on our last trip back home to the USA how nice it was "not to have to look down all the time". :heh:


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

GuyverII said:


> Valencia is one giant dogsh*t pile. Since the cutbacks, the streets in our area are only cleaned once a month. Five years ago it was 3-5 times a MONTH. Embarrassing, to say the least.
> 
> My wife commented on our last trip back home to the USA how nice it was "not to have to look down all the time". :heh:


wow!

most of the streets in my town are cleaned EVERY DAY!


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## GuyverII (Oct 27, 2014)

xabiachica said:


> wow!
> 
> most of the streets in my town are cleaned EVERY DAY!


Got an extra room?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

GuyverII said:


> Got an extra room?


no, sorry :noidea:


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Streets will be free of dog crap when either fines are sufficiently steep and enough people are actually caught and fined for not picking up or when some dog owners are more educated and have a stronger sense of civic responsibility or both.


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## Elpuppy (Dec 6, 2014)

So Xabia is clean but Valencia is "one dogsh*t pile" .... and the rest of Spain is somewhere in between?


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## GuyverII (Oct 27, 2014)

Elpuppy said:


> So Xabia is clean but Valencia is "one dogsh*t pile" .... and the rest of Spain is somewhere in between?



I lived in Seville before moving to Valencia and outside of the tourist areas it was deplorable. You are going to find, generally, that ex-pat and tourist areas have a lot less tolerance for this type of behavior.


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

It's a problem in our area, and everywhere in Spain, I bet.
You have to watch your feet everywhere you go .
There are notices that dogs are not allowed on the beach , but this is ignored, and the Police do nothing.
Street cleaning machines do remove the mess, but there is often residue.
I often think how awful it must be for blind people, and those in wheelchairs as it must be very difficult to avoid.
When you speak to dog owners they always say" I always clean up after my dog " when clearly they don't.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

While we are on the subject what about dog piss as they spend most of their lives pissing over anything that does not move, but of course to the vast bulk of dog owners this is considered OK. :confused2:


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

VFR said:


> While we are on the subject what about dog piss as they spend most of their lives pissing over anything that does not move, but of course to the vast bulk of dog owners this is considered OK. :confused2


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

VFR said:


> While we are on the subject what about dog piss as they spend most of their lives pissing over anything that does not move, but of course to the vast bulk of dog owners this is considered OK.
> 
> You are right, it is never mentioned, yet owners think it is a normal thing to let their dogs do it.
> Wall and house corners are scarred by this, and look and smell disgusting


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

VFR said:


> While we are on the subject what about dog piss as they spend most of their lives pissing over anything that does not move, but of course to the vast bulk of dog owners this is considered OK. :confused2:


I agree that dog pee can be a problem too, but there's little that owners, like me, can do about it, beyond not encouraging our pets to pee up against people's front gates and where children play for example.
Anyway, I've seen a vast improvement since I've been in Spain and don't often see poo on the pavements in the area where we live. It was something that was posted about almost monthly on the forum , and now it's not often mentioned, so I reckon that there's been a general improvement even if things are still not perfect.. There are huge fines almost everywhere now for letting your dog foul the footpath, but I doubt that many are given out as it's difficult to catch the dog in the act. Slowly people's attitudes are changing.
Here's a dog poo thread that includes a link to a novel solution 
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...ain/486866-dogs-what-they-do.html#post4547410


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## el romeral (May 8, 2012)

Sadly, the Spanish are not a tidy race on the whole. Just look at the sides of the roads in the countryside, it is like one giant dustbin. The dog mess problem is just an extension of this. Seems like so many people live in apartments with no garden for their dogs to be in. The streets and the parks are therefore used and abused. Autumn is particularly hazardous on the pavements due to all the leaves about, can't always see what you are stepping in :tape::doh::tape:


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## GuyverII (Oct 27, 2014)

el romeral said:


> Sadly, the Spanish are not a tidy race on the whole. Just look at the sides of the roads in the countryside, it is like one giant dustbin. The dog mess problem is just an extension of this. Seems like so many people live in apartments with no garden for their dogs to be in. The streets and the parks are therefore used and abused. Autumn is particularly hazardous on the pavements due to all the leaves about, can't always see what you are stepping in :tape::doh::tape:


*squish*


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

It is absolutely disgusting in my town. There is dog sh** everywhere. Directly across the street from my house there is a playground, and apparently all the dog owners in the area seem to think that it's one big doggie toilet bowl. I'm not kidding there are mounds of sh** piled absolutely everywhere. Since it's not the street it doesn't get cleaned except a few times a year, so the piles just grow and grow. It's a children's play area! Needless to say you virtually never see any children playing there.

I have a dog and I _always_ clean up after her. About a month ago I was doing just that when a passer-by stopped and said, 'You must be the only one.' I didn't know what she was talking about, but then she pointed to the doggie bag. From what I can see on the streets I think she's might be right. I have never heard anyone mention anything about a doggie clean-up law in our town, and there is definitely no sense of civic duty regarding dog poo.


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## Relyat (Sep 29, 2013)

GuyverII said:


> Valencia is one giant dogsh*t pile. :heh:


Not where I am


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## owdoggy (Jul 23, 2008)

Jeez, listen to yourselves. If that is the worst thing that is getting to you then, IMO, you are very lucky people.

If you don't like it.........sod off somewhere else........... & give those of us who can handle it a bit of peace.



Doggy
p.s. I usually apologise for being a bit direct but I'm sorry, this week I've had enough of whinging tossers.


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

owdoggy said:


> Jeez, listen to yourselves. If that is the worst thing that is getting to you then, IMO, you are very lucky people.
> 
> If you don't like it.........sod off somewhere else........... & give those of us who can handle it a bit of peace.
> 
> ...


It's not an insignificant matter, and it can blight lives.
There's no need for the insults!


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## Relyat (Sep 29, 2013)

Care to identify who you think of as a "whinging tosser"?


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## owdoggy (Jul 23, 2008)

extranjero said:


> It's not an insignificant matter, and it can blight lives.
> There's no need for the insults!


What?...... look at what is going on in this world........ and we're banging on about dogs cacking on pavements?

Ok, you've won, I give up.



Doggy


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

*Dog *****



GuyverII said:


> Valencia is one giant dogsh*t pile. Since the cutbacks, the streets in our area are only cleaned once a month. Five years ago it was 3-5 times a MONTH. Embarrassing, to say the least.
> 
> My wife commented on our last trip back home to the USA how nice it was "not to have to look down all the time". :heh:


It must depend on where you are cos here in Cadiz, you wouldn't dare leave crap in the city. However, where there are grassy spots I do see crap around and I know cos I have three dogs and can tell from night to morning that some fool as been out without clearing up.m,


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

*Dogs*



extranjero said:


> VFR said:
> 
> 
> > While we are on the subject what about dog piss as they spend most of their lives pissing over anything that does not move, but of course to the vast bulk of dog owners this is considered OK.
> ...


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## GuyverII (Oct 27, 2014)

Justina said:


> It must depend on where you are cos here in Cadiz, you wouldn't dare leave crap in the city. However, where there are grassy spots I do see crap around and I know cos I have three dogs and can tell from night to morning that some fool as been out without clearing up.m,


I wish they would enforce it more here in Valencia--visiting students frequently comment on "how dirty Valencia is" compared to their home cities in Europe and the USA. It's embarrassing and gives a developing country feel to this nation. 

In any case, it's a minor issue that I would love to see taken care of. I've been here for years so it hasn't driven me out yet!


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Practically not a problem at all where we live.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

el romeral said:


> Sadly, the Spanish are not a tidy race on the whole. Just look at the sides of the roads in the countryside, it is like one giant dustbin.



You've obviously not been in the UK recently ?


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

Can we ban dogs being allowed into restaurants before we even think of banning them from some beaches? I am not talking about guide-dogs for the blind.


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

Justina said:


> extranjero said:
> 
> 
> > Dogs pissing at street corners? What about the men doing likewise? It seems to be perfectly acceptable for the men to do it.
> ...


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

That was VFR 's post, not mine.
My reply got mixed up with it, somehow.


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## Elpuppy (Dec 6, 2014)

owdoggy said:


> If you don't like it.........sod off somewhere else........... & give those of us who can handle it a bit of peace.


Yeah I don't like it because my wife is partially sighted 

Does that mean we should sod off somewhere else?

I was only asking if there was a place in Spain that was clean enough.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Leper said:


> Can we ban dogs being allowed into restaurants before we even think of banning them from some beaches? I am not talking about guide-dogs for the blind.


maybe I'm missing something - but it's against health & safety regulations to allow dogs into restaurants already


they can sit on the terraces though


I admit that I've seen 'handbag dogs' in some bars now & then though


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## Leper (May 12, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> maybe I'm missing something - but it's against health & safety regulations to allow dogs into restaurants already
> 
> 
> they can sit on the terraces though
> ...


You're right and I wish the Spanish authorities would enforce their law with the same zeal they enforce some laws.

If you open your mouth (like I did) in two well known restaurants in Mojacar Playa recently where one dog (German Shepherd) barked menacingly at a child who inadvertantly stepped on its tail. The dog owner shouted at the child's parents to keep their "kid under control." Having intervened on behalf of the parents (both of whom did not know the 'lie-of-the-land') I was told to mind my own business by the Brit bar staff.

More recenty, I endured a "mangy" dog sitting on the ground at a nearby table accompanied by a group of a-step-up-from-the-pond ex-pats. The waitress just did not want to know when I complained and I spent the next half hour being stared at by the stupid rabble.

Both occasions happened on the terrace of two well known restaurants. If you pulled out a cigarette you'd probably have been shot by the same people on the grounds that their dangerous mutts might get acute lung cancer.


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## Expatliving (Oct 21, 2013)

Are there a lot of stray dogs in Spanish towns & cities? As many of you will know, local by-laws in the UK make it illegal to have dogs off a lead in public places (not parks generally though), such as town centres and certainly near roads. As a dog owner, I know that a dog having a discreet 'drop' tucked away behind a tree in a wood is hard to police, but in open park land or on pavements? It's a definite 'no, no' ...

Perhaps it's cultural? But it sounds like change is under foot ... literally in Spain.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I wonder how many people who get worked up about dog piss and crap spare a thought for the plight of the many starving abandoned dogs that wander the streets and the campo....
Dog crap ranks relatively low on the list of Spain's more urgent problems, really.

We take our dogs on the beach in winter and very early or very late in summer. We pick up. We note that the villagers who ride their horses on the beach or through the village don't pick up....

Public defecation and urination is common ( in both senses of the word) in the Czech Republic. Every bush and secluded areas in public parks provide evidence of this, shop doorways too. Now THAT is disgusting.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

owdoggy said:


> Jeez, listen to yourselves. If that is the worst thing that is getting to you then, IMO, you are very lucky people.
> 
> If you don't like it.........sod off somewhere else........... & give those of us who can handle it a bit of peace.
> 
> ...


Being a direct sort of person you won't mind me pointing out that just as you suggest that people can sod off out of the country, you could sod off out of the thread and be a whinging tosser elsewhere.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Expatliving said:


> Are there a lot of stray dogs in Spanish towns & cities? As many of you will know, local by-laws in the UK make it illegal to have dogs off a lead in public places (not parks generally though), such as town centres and certainly near roads. As a dog owner, I know that a dog having a discreet 'drop' tucked away behind a tree in a wood is hard to police, but in open park land or on pavements? It's a definite 'no, no' ...
> 
> Perhaps it's cultural? But it sounds like change is under foot ... literally in Spain.


There are virtually no stray (abandoned) dogs in the UK and people do not let their dogs roam the streets. Both are ubiquitous in many areas of Spain which may explain why dog fouling is a big problem in Spain and not (so much) in the UK.

In parks, on beaches (dogs are allowed out of season) and even in quite open country people generally pick up after their dogs (bins are provided) and not doing so is roundly condemned.

As for saying that people are being over sensitive - it's an unnecessary, disgusting health hazard.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Expatliving said:


> Are there a lot of stray dogs in Spanish towns & cities? a



Yes. It's a huge problem. That's why there are so many voluntary- run shelters/ adoption centres like the one I'm involved with.


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## el romeral (May 8, 2012)

jimenato said:


> There are virtually no stray (abandoned) dogs in the UK and people do not let their dogs roam the streets. Both are ubiquitous in many areas of Spain which may explain why dog fouling is a big problem in Spain and not (so much) in the UK.
> 
> In parks, on beaches (dogs are allowed out of season) and even in quite open country people generally pick up after their dogs (bins are provided) and not doing so is roundly condemned.
> 
> As for saying that people are being over sensitive - it's an unnecessary, disgusting health hazard.


The bins they put up along beaches etc in our part of Malaga are hilarious. The structure of them is open with a plastic bag inserted and tied down at the top. As soon as it becomes windy it blows through the bin and the bag pops out, along with any contents. You can see all the bags flapping around in the wind still held down at what was the top, but now upside down and inside out like a flag. Who thinks up such daft stuff?:rofl:


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## Expatliving (Oct 21, 2013)

Doing the usual pre-move research, using guide books and the internet, it has become quite apparent that the writers/media strongly believe that it certainly isn't a dogs life in Spain? Infact the suggestion is that the 'Spanish' (a tad unfair I suspect) have little concern over the cruelty shown to animals?

As I said above, perhaps there is a level of cultural apathy with regard to dogs (pets) and the responsibility of owning and caring for 'said' animals? I've got a dog, I'll probably get another once I arrive in Spain, my little one has also asked for a cat? I told her she will probably have 20 (adopted) by the end of the first week ...


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Expatliving said:


> Doing the usual pre-move research, using guide books and the internet, it has become quite apparent that the writers/media strongly believe that it certainly isn't a dogs life in Spain? Infact the suggestion is that the 'Spanish' (a tad unfair I suspect) have little concern over the cruelty shown to animals?


What is unfair in my opinion is to talk about the Spanish this and the Spanish that. The Spanish people that I know love dogs, and far more "soppy" about them than I am. I also rarely see dogs roaming the streets on their own. Dog poo was a big problem where I live and in Bilbao, the other place I know well in Spain, but has improved a lot in the last 10 years (I never found it a big problem in Madrid city). 
However, I have little reason to disbelieve the people on the forum who have experience of a horrible disregard for animal welfare. There's no reason to be making it up.
On the one occasion I did see a dog chained up in the middle of a fenced off part of a wood on his own, presumibly to guard the wood supplies, I have to admit OH and his cousins didn't seem particularly interested in him...


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## anles (Feb 11, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> What is unfair in my opinion is to talk about the Spanish this and the Spanish that. The Spanish people that I know love dogs, and far more "soppy" about them than I am. I also rarely see dogs roaming the streets on their own. Dog poo was a big problem where I live and in Bilbao, the other place I know well in Spain, but has improved a lot in the last 10 years (I never found it a big problem in Madrid city).
> However, I have little reason to disbelieve the people on the forum who have experience of a horrible disregard for animal welfare. There's no reason to be making it up.
> On the one occasion I did see a dog chained up in the middle of a fenced off part of a wood on his own, presumibly to guard the wood supplies, I have to admit OH and his cousins didn't seem particularly interested in him...


I agree, all my Spanish friends here are dog lovers, they all have pets. In the block of flats where I live, of 27 flats about half have dogs and I think there are roughly the same proportion in the other three blocks. Everywhere I go in ntown, you see people with their dogs, and yes there is some mess on the streets but it's getting better all the time. 
The thing that really amuses me, is that several people on here thnk that Spaniards in general aren't pet lovers. However, two of my friends (who have four dogs) who spent 9 months living in the UK, loved everything except that fact that the British aren't big pet lovers and there were very few dogs out and about. That really surprised me, and I had thought the Brits were number one pet owners! But as I hadn't been back for 14 years I couldn't really say. However, another friend of mine (who has two dogs) went to do an intensive course and said the same. This year I have been back twice to see my boys, and I understand where they get the idea from. I stayed in two different areas and for the whole week both times, I never saw a dog in the neighbourhood or in the town centre. The only place I did see people walking their dogs was when we went for a lovely walk along the canal and when we went to West Park. So do fewer people nowadays have dogs? Or do the only take them out at night? Or do they have specailly designated dog walking areas? It's very true that in Wolverhampton and in Birmingham we never saw any dog mess on the pavements, but neither did we see dogs!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

jimenato said:


> There are virtually no stray (abandoned) dogs in the UK and people do not let their dogs roam the streets. Both are ubiquitous in many areas of Spain which may explain why dog fouling is a big problem in Spain and not (so much) in the UK.
> 
> In parks, on beaches (dogs are allowed out of season) and even in quite open country people generally pick up after their dogs (bins are provided) and not doing so is roundly condemned.
> 
> As for saying that people are being over sensitive - it's an unnecessary, disgusting health hazard.


I quite agree. This problem (and littering generally, including the lazy so and sos who dump bags of household rubbish in the street because they can't be bothered walking as far as the communal bins) is my biggest dislike about living in Spain. Other issues such as corruption might be more "important" but they don't have half so much impact on my daily life.

My street is swept every day, Monday to Friday, and washed with a pressure washer once a week, and still by the end of every weekend especially when there's a public holiday like today, it is a mess. I came home from the UK last night and had to walk past the contents of a bag of dumped rubbish which had spread all over the street (my OH had already removed a cardboard box of rubbish which had been dumped on Saturday, not wanting it to stay there until Tuesday morning when the street cleaner next turns up), plus 3 days' worth of assorted dog poo which will become 4 days' worth by tomorrow morning. It's horrible and if anybody thinks those who complain about it are whingeing tossers they have a very strange idea of the kind of environment people want to live in. Dog mess in public places is dirty, smelly and a health hazard. As we all know children play in the streets in Spain and if they fall over and accidentally touch even the residue of this stuff the consequences can be devastating. A small girl lost her sight a couple of years ago after falling over in a Manchester park then rubbing her eyes.


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## GuyverII (Oct 27, 2014)

Lynn R said:


> ... Dog mess in public places is dirty, smelly and a health hazard. As we all know children play in the streets in Spain and if they fall over and accidentally touch even the residue of this stuff the consequences can be devastating. A small girl lost her sight a couple of years ago after falling over in a Manchester park then rubbing her eyes.


We have a playground near our daughter's school that looks to be the local stop for all of our four legged friends, just based on the number of excrement piles.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Pesky Wesky said:


> What is unfair in my opinion is to talk about the Spanish this and the Spanish that. The Spanish people that I know love dogs, and far more "soppy" about them than I am. I also rarely see dogs roaming the streets on their own. Dog poo was a big problem where I live and in Bilbao, the other place I know well in Spain, but has improved a lot in the last 10 years (I never found it a big problem in Madrid city).
> However, I have little reason to disbelieve the people on the forum who have experience of a horrible disregard for animal welfare. There's no reason to be making it up.
> On the one occasion I did see a dog chained up in the middle of a fenced off part of a wood on his own, presumibly to guard the wood supplies, I have to admit OH and his cousins didn't seem particularly interested in him...


It depends a lot but not exclusively on why you own a dog. We always had dogs when I was growing up but they were there primarily for a purpose....guard dogs or ratters. So my aunt who kept a pub in a rural town had two German Shepherds. We lived next door to a small-holding with goats and a pig so we had a terrier to keep the rats down and frighten the foxes that came after my granddad's chickens.
But these were also pets and kindly treated but not fussed over in the way we do over our two dogs.
If my Gran were alive and saw Our Little Azor she'd probably point at him with her walking stick and say something along the lines of 'He be a fine lookin' beast. 'E'll look arter yer'. But that would be the extent of it. To her, as a countrywoman, dogs were primarily working animals.

My experience of living in a rural area in the Czech Republic and a semi-rural area here is the same, more or less. Most Spaniards I know live in towns and their dogs are loved and cared-for pets. But I also know of campo people, farmers, hunters, with the same views as my grandmother. A minority of them are very cruel indeed. 

But let's not imagine that we Brits are the animal lovers we're made out to be. Our perrera has been given dogs that their Brit owners have had for thirteen years...because they are ill or just too much trouble to keep any longer. Some Brits go back to the UK casually abandoning their dogs in the street or on the road to the airport. We've even found dogs left locked in abandoned flats and houses, left to die.
Then there are the people who 'fall in love' with a dog, adopt it and bring it back a week later because it 'leaves hairs everywhere', 'smells' or 'doesn't get on with the baby/cat/other dog/budgerigar'.
A lot of our so-called concern is skin-deep sentimentality. We're getting good at that in other contexts too....Princess Diana's funeral, floral tributes for tragically-murdered strangers we don't know, especially children...forgotten a week later. 

But I digress as I often do... My main point is that the division isn't between Brits and Spaniards it's between people and their characters which is nearly always the case whatever the issue.


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## Elpuppy (Dec 6, 2014)

To summarise this thread:
* Spanish love their dogs too
* So much so, their streets and playgrounds are full of dogsh*t
* This seems to annoy the expats more than the locals
* Some expats get annoyed about the expats getting annoyed 

Thanks for all your input. 

Enlightening


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## Elpuppy (Dec 6, 2014)

We got to page 5 without the

"Yeah... but what about cats/pigeons/ponies/children/name-your-wild-animal?" 

response to this thread. 

I salute you expats!


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## Relyat (Sep 29, 2013)

Elpuppy said:


> We got to page 5 without the
> 
> "Yeah... but what about cats/pigeons/ponies/children/name-your-wild-animal?"
> 
> ...


Post 36 - Page 4


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Elpuppy said:


> We got to page 5 without the
> 
> "Yeah... but what about cats/pigeons/ponies/children/name-your-wild-animal?"
> 
> ...


Cat sh!t is more of a problem to us than dog sh!t. We have grey slate chippings down in the front of our house and the cats cover up their mess with it so you can't see it and tread on it.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Elpuppy said:


> To summarise this thread:
> * Spanish love their dogs too
> * So much so, their streets and playgrounds are full of dogsh*t
> * This seems to annoy the expats more than the locals
> ...


And some of us immigrants couldn't give a dog's turd as we have more important things to think about and do.


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## GuyverII (Oct 27, 2014)

Relyat said:


> Post 36 - Page 4



That's some thread dedication right there, folks.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

GuyverII said:


> That's some thread dedication right there, folks.


That is my post and here it is again:
_
I wonder how many people who get worked up about dog piss and crap spare a thought for the plight of the many starving abandoned dogs that wander the streets and the campo....
Dog crap ranks relatively low on the list of Spain's more urgent problems, really.

We take our dogs on the beach in winter and very early or very late in summer. We pick up. We note that the villagers who ride their horses on the beach or through the village don't pick up....

Public defecation and urination is common ( in both senses of the word) in the Czech Republic. Every bush and secluded areas in public parks provide evidence of this, shop doorways too. Now THAT is disgusting_

What, if any , problem do you 'folks' have with that?

Dog crap is but one item of 'crap' that we coexist with in Spain. Discarded junk of all kinds, used condoms, empty bottles, goats turds, dogs turds, cat crap, bird crap, politicians' verbal crap....all part of life....


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Elpuppy said:


> To summarise this thread:
> * Spanish love their dogs too
> * So much so, their streets and playgrounds are full of dogsh*t


As I said in post 42....:frusty:
Just as anles points out in her post, not all Brits are animal lovers, Spaniards in general don't fill children's playgrounds with dog Shiit! That there are children's play area with piles of excrement I don't doubt, but please stop talking about THE SPANISH.
I have recently changed my routine on Tuesdays and take my dog to a lovely place. It's a long straight path going through a wide grassy area (not common in Madrid) between two rows of very large individually built houses (stately homes almost). We go around 3 play areas, we see plenty of dogs, and not a dog turd in sight. Maybe it's because there's a different class of dog in the area that doesn't poop?????????


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## Elpuppy (Dec 6, 2014)

mrypg9 said:


> And some of us immigrants couldn't give a dog's turd as we have more important things to think about and do.


That made sense, until I saw you posted more than anybody else to this thread


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Elpuppy said:


> That made sense, until I saw you posted more than anybody else to this thread


Actually no, we made the same number of posts....up to now.
But mine got more likes


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

owdoggy said:


> Jeez, listen to yourselves. If that is the worst thing that is getting to you then, IMO, you are very lucky people.
> 
> If you don't like it.........sod off somewhere else........... & give those of us who can handle it a bit of peace.
> 
> ...


My 20 month old daughter got dog mess all down her front the other day because she innocently thought it would be a bit of fun to hide from daddy behind a tree along a street in Madrid. Obviously she didn't have the benefit of listening to your pearls of wisdom. Apparently toxicariasis in dog faeces causes partial blindness in up to 100 children each year. If only they'd listened to you as well, eh? They just don't know how lucky they are!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Chopera said:


> My 20 month old daughter got dog mess all down her front the other day because she innocently thought it would be a bit of fun to hide from daddy behind a tree along a street in Madrid. Obviously she didn't have the benefit of listening to your pearls of wisdom. Apparently toxicariasis in dog faeces causes partial blindness in up to 100 children each year. If only they'd listened to you as well, eh? They just don't know how lucky they are!


Yuk!
Poor thing, and poor old Dad too I expect.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Yuk!
> Poor thing, and poor old Dad too I expect.


Fortunately we were close to home so it wasn't such a big deal. Madrid city seems to have got worse since we had that refuse collection strike last year, probably to be expected with fewer cleaners now, but maybe the public also became a bit lethargic when the streets were being cleaned on a daily basis. Not having so much rain doesn't help either.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Chopera said:


> Fortunately we were close to home so it wasn't such a big deal. Madrid city seems to have got worse since we had that refuse collection strike last year, probably to be expected with fewer cleaners now, but maybe the public also became a bit lethargic when the streets were being cleaned on a daily basis. Not having so much rain doesn't help either.


I don't understand what's happening with the street cleaning. Our street, out of the town gets cleaned once a week which is fine, but in the summer they were doing it at 15:15/ 15:30 in the afternoon!
Yesterday I was in Madrid and in C/ Santa Isabel near Anton Martin metro there was a pack of about 5 street cleaners at @13:30, and yesterday was a national holiday.


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## GuyverII (Oct 27, 2014)

Chopera said:


> My 20 month old daughter got dog mess all down her front the other day because she innocently thought it would be a bit of fun to hide from daddy behind a tree along a street in Madrid. Obviously she didn't have the benefit of listening to your pearls of wisdom. Apparently toxicariasis in dog faeces causes partial blindness in up to 100 children each year. If only they'd listened to you as well, eh? They just don't know how lucky they are!


Mercy, that's terrible. A health hazard for sure, but some on here must love sh*t because it doesn't seem to bother them at all!


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I don't understand what's happening with the street cleaning. Our street, out of the town gets cleaned once a week which is fine, but in the summer they were doing it at 15:15/ 15:30 in the afternoon!
> Yesterday I was in Madrid and in C/ Santa Isabel near Anton Martin metro there was a pack of about 5 street cleaners at @13:30, and yesterday was a national holiday.


I know that street - my son did a campamento there with Sek last summer - maybe they were trying to take advantage of less traffic/parked cars? Or bonus pay for working on a holiday?


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## Elpuppy (Dec 6, 2014)

GuyverII said:


> Mercy, that's terrible. A health hazard for sure, but some on here must love sh*t because it doesn't seem to bother them at all!


Wow, it bothers me a great deal, more since my wife's eyesight deteriorated. 

Feel sorry for parents with little kids here in Spain, how do they cope?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Elpuppy said:


> Wow, it bothers me a great deal, more since my wife's eyesight deteriorated.
> 
> Feel sorry for parents with little kids here in Spain, how do they cope?


Personally, I don't find it any worse here than other countries I've visited recently.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

snikpoh said:


> Personally, I don't find it any worse here than other countries I've visited recently.


I don't think Madrid is worse than other places, but it seems to be worse than it used to be. When I first arrived here it was all the building that caused problems with dust, traffic, etc, then when the crisis hit the building stopped and the city became quite pleasant for a few years, now it seems that it is becoming a bit scruffy again. Having said that, there's an election next year so no doubt the council will be spending more of my money to make the place look nice in the hope that I vote for them.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Actually no, we made the same number of posts....up to now.
> But mine got more likes


Plus you mentioned Prague more times.


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

I don't think Xabia is clean. They drive a road cleaning machine around daily and it does a good job, but on the pavements of the port area the smell of urine is ever-present. Some shops keep their fronts clean, but it seems that unless individual shop owners take the time, it doesn't get done.

Freshly minted turds are commonplace.



Elpuppy said:


> So Xabia is clean but Valencia is "one dogsh*t pile" .... and the rest of Spain is somewhere in between?


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> I have recently changed my routine on Tuesdays and take my dog to a lovely place. It's a long straight path going through a wide grassy area (not common in Madrid) between two rows of very large individually built houses (stately homes almost). We go around 3 play areas, we see plenty of dogs, and *not a dog turd in sight*. Maybe it's because there's a different class of dog in the area that doesn't poop?????????


Actually, there is one now.
Forgot to take a bag...
Hello, my name is Pesky Wesky and I'm a secret "turder"!


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## Elpuppy (Dec 6, 2014)

Can you report offenders? Have you had any success getting authorities to act?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Elpuppy said:


> Can you report offenders? Have you had any success getting authorities to act?


in my town the police have to actually catch the offenders in the act

I believe that there have been fines though, & things are much better than years ago - not perfect, admittedly, but a tremendous improvement

I don't recognise the port as described by horlics - I live there, work there, shop there - & yes you will see some 'turds', but they are far from commonplace

& the only area of Jávea I've smelled urine is near the Arenal - & that's unfortunately the human variety


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

There's an old lady who comes out of her apartment block every morning and sprays disinfectant on the tiles around the entrance - because they stink.

This summer, the stretch between Masymas and the roundabout was particularly pongy. I held my breath some days.

You only have to look at the blackened appearance of most lamp posts and tiling around corners to see they haven't been cleaned very much over the years.

Venturing inland a little, a walk along the riverside road behind the big college is always aromatic, despite the warning signs to dog owners.

By the time you reach the pueblo it's much better, it's spotless up there.

I actually don't think it's very bad, but it could be much, much cleaner.



xabiachica said:


> in my town the police have to actually catch the offenders in the act
> 
> I believe that there have been fines though, & things are much better than years ago - not perfect, admittedly, but a tremendous improvement
> 
> ...


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## Emma01 (Feb 20, 2014)

I wish they were more strict and actively giving out fines, I mean the money made from the fines can surely go towards something useful. I am a dog owner myself and I always clean up after my dog but I feel like those who don´t give the rest of us a bad name! Where I live there was poop all over the pavements but I do think they are trying to get a grip on it as it is not as bad at the moment. Still I don´t think they are as strict as they could be. It is just really frustrating as a dog owner that others cannot be as responsible. I get that picking up poop isn´t exactly the most glamorous of things to do but if you don´t want to pick it up then don´t get a dog.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Horlics said:


> There's an old lady who comes out of her apartment block every morning and sprays disinfectant on the tiles around the entrance - because they stink.
> 
> This summer, the stretch between Masymas and the roundabout was particularly pongy. I held my breath some days.
> 
> ...


oh yeah - it's nasty behind the instituto (big college)

that's not just dogs though, unfortunately 

I think I might need my nose checked - I walk that stretch by MasyMas every day & don't remember ever smelling a pong - not for quite some years anyway

the pedestrianised bit of C/Andres Lambert used to be 'dog poo alley' & they power-washed it every Sunday - it's MUCH better now though


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

I think I found the culprit


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Clever dick.


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

I think the council does a good job of keeping most areas clean. The roads are well kept but it's easier to drive the street cleaning machines up and down them. The pavements are less accessible because of parked cars.

The council is no worse than the average English one. They certainly don't clean any less frequently than my local council in England does, it's just that in England there's the help of daily washes from the skies!

I think Javea might have suffered a bit this year from a build-up due to lack of rain for many seasons.

I'll take your word about the source of the instituto turds, rather than inspect for myself 



xabiachica said:


> oh yeah - it's nasty behind the instituto (big college)
> 
> that's not just dogs though, unfortunately
> 
> ...


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

*Pissoir*

Why can't we have a pissoir? I mean for the gentlemen who get 'caught short' and a doggy pissoir like one can find in some places in France where the dogs can frolic and perform and x less craps in the street for the fastidious.
For the poster who started this thread, let me say it must be a real drag for your wife, but for those of us that venture onto the grassy parts, and although I have good sight, I still get **** on my shoes. Drives me silly. 
Do any of you remember Clochemerle by Gabriel Chevalier? It became a tv series, but it was all about a 'pissoir' in the centre of the village.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Justina said:


> Why can't we have a pissoir? I mean for the gentlemen who get 'caught short' and a doggy pissoir like one can find in some places in France where the dogs can frolic and perform and x less craps in the street for the fastidious.
> For the poster who started this thread, let me say it must be a real drag for your wife, but for those of us that venture onto the grassy parts, and although I have good sight, I still get **** on my shoes. Drives me silly.
> Do any of you remember Clochemerle by Gabriel Chevalier? It became a tv series, but it was all about a 'pissoir' in the centre of the village.


we have a couple of areas called 'pipican' - which is where you're supposed to let your dog do it's stuff

they don't seem to be used though


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