If you walk our streets and return home with clean shoes, you should spare a thought for Edward H. Lehner who has died at the age of 93.

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You won't have heard of him but as a politician in New York, he promoted the city's "pooper-scooper" law. The idea that pet owners should pick up the mess their pets had left was opposed vehemently by, well, pet owners, but Mr Lehner persisted and change came. And from New York to the world.

In Australia, it's the law: "According to the Domestic Animals Act 1994, Section 24A, dog owners must pick up after their pets in public places. That's right. It's not just a common courtesy; it's the law," the company Whifti Walks says.

Whifti Walks does have a paw in this because it sells the bags into which the mess should be placed: "The Whifti Walks Poop Pod will store up to two medium size poops. To get maximum space/storage, you must let the air out of the bag before you tie it off," is its pitch.

But I'm sorry to say that some dog owners don't agree with the principle that they should clean up the mess their animal has created. Or rather, they might agree but not actually do it.

A friend in Canberra tells me of someone who pretends to pick up the mess by lifting a nearby stone, but then walking on. To people nearby, it seems as if the dog owner has done the decent thing, but the mess remains to foul your and my shoe.

I am proud to say that I have shouted at a dog owner in Melbourne whom I spotted walking away from the dirty scene of the crime.

I have also seen people pick up the bag but then drop it round the corner.

I........

© Canberra Times