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Certain scents and sights seem forever affiliated with summer, most inspiring anticipation and recollection.
One horrendous exception, dog feces, has become such a nuisance that Queen Village dwellers officially began rebelling against the refuse last month by launching the Scoop the Poop campaign. Preaching practicality and responsibility, they are hoping their neighbors and fellow South Philadelphians will exorcise excrement from all communities.
“Such waste has troubled the area for some time, and we’ve been addressing it very diligently for two years,” Sean Mellody, co-chair of QVK9, said Tuesday afternoon on the 300 block of Fitzwater Street, which features one of the seven receptacles for feces-only disposal. “So far, dog owners are ecstatic and we’re looking to continue to rid them and others of the problem of wondering what’s going to happen to our streets.”
Walking to the location with his dog, Barley, by his side, the resident of the 200 block of Queen Street fraternized with Brent Chavis, co-chair of the Queen Village Neighbors Association Dog Committee, the initiative’s mastermind. Frequent inspectors of the spot and the half-dozen others, the two have witnessed heavy use since the containers’ Aug. 10 debut.
“We chose locations that have been prone to waste problems,” Chavis, of the 200 block of South Street, said of the selections, adding that Queen Village’s canine population has hit 6,000. “It’s such an important project because it is working toward building a sense of care for the environment and our health.”
The community leader had long pined for his civic association and local government figures to devise a solution and received his wish earlier this year through interactions between QVNA president Jeff Hornstein, of the 300 block of Queen Street, and 1st District Councilman Mark Squilla, a Front-Street-and-Snyder-Avenue denizen. Chavis and his peers set out with two matters to resolve, namely, the significant amount of walkers who fail to remove their pooches’ droppings and the supposed lack of holders for bags even if they were to scoop up the poop.
“We figured, then, our setup would be great,” Mellody said while peering at the repository, which, like the others, is bolted to a street sign and contains a sticker with a helmet-clad dog declaring “Scoop the poop. That means you, soldier” just below the proclamation “No pile left behind.” “Because we offer a can and bags, there is really no excuse for ignorance anymore.”
Knowing the most offensive and congested blocks, the Queen Village contingent pondered a few points in narrowing the locations for the nondescript additions, fashioned out of sewer drainage pipes. Not looking to disrupt the community apple cart, the overseers considered places not in front of homes or businesses, with residents more than welcome to interject and permit a container by their abodes. Also seeking to make use of their commercial contacts, the local advocates, who derived their idea from a similar feces-fighting plan in Old City, aligned themselves with establishments that are serving as sponsors. In those roles, the entities are agreeing to empty the receptacles at least twice a week, a process that also has proven beneficial.
“The partnerships are going well,” Mellody said as his trusted companion received petting from Chavis. “Everything is not without its flaws, but we’re working on improving our offerings as the summer ends and the rest of the year unfolds.”
Because of much-used eateries and stores along South Street, which falls within its environs, Queen Village never lacks for admirers, with residents and tourists combining to give the area thousands of regular consumers. Though their trash factors heavily into the expanse’s aesthetics, putrid pet waste has supplanted their garbage as a massive eyesore and nose offender. The holders have become consistent resting places for the latter, but, predictably, according to Chavis, the former, too.
“People are placing their trash in them,” he said, with a passerby doing just that only seconds later. “We’re obviously looking to deter that practice because we clearly want them to be only for dog waste.”
To stem the misplacements, Chavis has crafted lids for the cylinders and soon will fasten them to the existing aids at the aforementioned spot; Second and Christian streets; Third and Bainbridge streets; Christian Street and Columbus Boulevard; Front and Bainbridge streets; Washington Avenue and Water Street; and Front and Lombard streets. Within the next two weeks, he, Mellody and their colleagues will add three more containers to the Southeast portion of Queen Village, with all of their efforts earning kudos from Susan Kellogg.
“We have to keep striving to beautify our neighborhood,” the resident of the 400 block of Catharine Street said upon hearing her Queen Village compatriots discussing their outreach, which they suspect will continue among dog owners Sunday at the Mario Lanza Park cleanup, 214 Catharine St. “I would like for someone to come to focus on [dog] urine, too, as that causes trouble for trees.”
Aside from its being an immediate pest, the unattended poop can cause long-term misery, with Chavis noting he and the others are fearful of contamination of the Delaware River. If problems persist, he plans to contact the City’s Department of Licenses and Inspections to seek punishment for offenders.
“Not everybody likes dogs, I know that, but Queen Village has so many of them,” he said. “It’s important to make the connection between our safety and their presence. They’re great friends and we have to make sure we tend to their output.”
With proximity to three and four sites, respectively, Mellody and Chavis, also a dog owner, are expecting numerous opportunities to encourage upkeep and hear from community members on means to tame turds’ appearances anywhere but in a properly sealed and situated bag.
“They’re consistently full,” Mellody, who would welcome occasions to talk with other civic groups, said of the containers. “Better they be that way than our streets.” SPR
For more information, visit qvna.org/qvna/projects.
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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