BALLARD: For several months, residents of a quiet Ballard
street have been plagued by poop. On Northwest 58th
Street—between 22nd and 20th avenues—nearly a dozen large
piles of turds dot the parking strips and sidewalks, and there’s ample
evidence of dookie, now marked by smeared shoe prints along the
street.
Last weekend, an anonymous neighbor began posting signs around the
block, in protest of the prodigious brown mounds.
“It’s a minefield,” says Tom Simpson, a 15-year resident of 58th
Street. Simpson and his neighbors have speculated about the cause, and
whether certain houses or apartment buildings are being targeted, and
some residents have even debated whether the culprit is canine or
human.
“It’s disgusting and unsafe,” says Sylvia, who’s lived on 58th
Street for the last five years. Sylvia (who did not give her last name)
says she sees lots of dogs in the neighborhood, and speculates that the
problem may be coming from a nearby 35-unit apartment complex where,
she says, every resident in the building has “two or three dogs.”
Simpson walks his three dogs—a Pekingese, a pug, and a chow,
none capable of leaving such massive dog deposits—around the
neighborhood every day, and he says this is the worst it’s ever been.
“[There are piles] even I couldn’t leave behind,” Simpson says.
Simpson estimates the problem has been going on for a month or two,
but it seems to have gotten better in the last few days. “Maybe the
signs did some good,” he says.
Another older man, who’s lived in the neighborhood for 30 years,
told The Stranger he believes the poop problem can be attributed
to a large rottweiler, which, he says, freely roams the
neighborhood.
According to Don Jordan, director of the Seattle Animal Shelter, the
city can fine pet owners $54 for failing to scoop their animals’ poop.
Additionally, property owners must remove animal feces every 24 hours
or risk being fined. Jordan did not specifically address the situation
in Ballard, but said that it’s not uncommon for people to leave behind
their animals’ waste. “It’s a societal issue,” he says. “You walk along
any sidewalk [and] you’re generally going to come across some
feces.”
Poop complaints can be made by calling Seattle Animal Shelter at
386-PETS.
