FIDO calling attention to a dirty job

Dog poop is not something people usually like to talk about.

However, the Highland Park residents who are members of the volunteer group Friends in Dog Ownership (FIDO) believe their neighborhood needs to become more aware of the nuisance dog owners create when they don’t clean up after their pets.

And when the group was founded in 2014, members found a fun, unorthodox way to draw attention to the issue.

As part of a cleanup and education campaign called the Flaggin’ and Baggin’ Campaign, members marked piles of poops in Highland Park with hundreds of red flags bearing humorous but pointed messages about the problem of dog waste, such as “There is no poop fairy,” “Brown is not the new green” and “How would you like to step in this?”

The campaign has continued since then. The Flaggin’ and Baggin’ Campaign was held this year from April 29 to May 10. On May 11, the members collected the flags and remaining poop. And on May 14, they took part in the annual dog-themed Do Dah Day parade in the Highland Park area.

The campaign is important because dog waste is more than just a nuisance, according to FIDO members.  The poop can pollute wastewater, according to the EPA and Jefferson County Storm Water Management. It passes worms and other parasites between animals. And there is a Birmingham city ordinance — granted, one that is rarely enforced — that charges a $100 fine for people who fail to clean up after their dog.

“The flagging and bagging and promotional work in the neighborhood is trying to create awareness in a fun way and to change the culture by making it fun but still make the points about it being bad for the environment and wastewater and the water that goes into the sewer and all the bacteria,” FIDO member Suzanne Baker said.

FIDO members use the pre-Do Dah Day cleanup as an opportunity to make the Highland Park neighborhood look as nice as possible, according to Baker. 

“We also pick up trash if we find it,” she said. “We are trying to get everything cleaned up so when people come to our neighborhood they see we care about it, so when they get here they are less likely to trash it.”

As part of FIDO’s spring campaign in 2015, they worked with the neighborhood association and the city to install signs along Highland Avenue to inform residents of the dog-waste ordinance and fine and installed new pet waste cleanup stations in the three parks in the area.

“The parks have gotten much cleaner since we reinstalled the [waste] stations and are filling them again with bags,” Baker said. The neighborhood association purchased the stations and a year’s supply of bags.

Members believe that the dog poop situation has improved overall since 2014, according to Baker. 

“We have seen it get better,” she said. “When we first started, it was everywhere. Some side streets are problematic. I think people are more inclined to leave it when they are not on Highland Avenue.”

FIDO is affiliated with the Highland Park Neighborhood Beautification Committee, and neighborhood President Alison Glasscock has been supportive of the group’s efforts, Baker said.

For more information about the group and its efforts, contact highlandparkFIDO@gmail.com and check out the Facebook page at “Highland Park FIDO.”