Dog owners in the centre of the southern French town of Béziers are now required to provide a sample of their pet’s saliva which could then be used to punish those who fail to pick up after their pets.
Robert Ménard, Bézier's far-right mayor, has finally rolled out his solution for the age old problem of dog mess in the city.
From 16 July, dog owners in the town centre will have to collect a sample of their pet’s saliva.
The DNA gathered will then go into the local council’s database. Officials can then take samples of any excrement left lying around town and trace it back to the offending dogs and their owners.
"The two-year experiment can now begin" Ménard told France Bleu Hérault on Sunday, two months after he filed his decree to the sub-prefecture that was not contested.
"From now on, every animal will have to have a genetic passport," he said. "Owners who are unable to provide this document will be liable to a 38-euro fine. If they fail to pick up after their dog, the bill will rise to 122 euros.
🐕🇫🇷 FLASH - Les chiens de #Béziers vont devoir posséder un passeport génétique (avec leur ADN) pour se promener au centre-ville, afin qu’ils puissent être identifiés en cas de crottes non ramassées. (France Bleu) pic.twitter.com/OjapUImSTY
— Mediavenir (@Mediavenir) July 17, 2023
"I'm fed up with all the droppings," Ménard said. "We've done a count. We collect over a thousand a month in the city centre alone. We have to punish people so that they behave properly.”
The local council, he underlined, would pick up the cost of the saliva sample.
Disproprotionate for public health
Ménard’s plan goes back to 2016 but was deemed illegal by the administrative court of nearby Montpellier.
The judge decided that the measure was "not intended to keep the public safe nor to prevent offence, but was purely repressive".
But it got the go-ahead in December 2016. Judges at the administrative appeal court in Marseille ruled that the DNA plan was "disproportionate to the demands of public health and safety," but said that in principle it was not illegal.
Ça c'est du #Ménard tout craché décidément extrême droite n'a rien d'autre à faire https://t.co/oSbn5dP9ps
— Julien (@JulienJPF) July 16, 2023
The court did specify however that the rule be restricted to the town centre.
France has been waging a war on dog mess in town, with limited success.
Previous initiatives have included a 2,000-strong "anti-civility brigade" in Paris to crack down on dog owners who don't pick up.
In 2014, security guards armed with fluorescent paint bagan pink-bombing piles of mess left behind by unscrupulous dog owners in the north western town of Arras.
In 1982, then president Jacques Chirac introduced teams on "motocrottes" that went around sucking up canine droppings. The initiative was deemed too expensive and phased out in 2021.
Controversial figure
Ménard, who is close to the hard-right National Rally party, especially on immigration and law and order issues, is no stranger to controversy.
He’s made headlines for carrying out a "witch hunt" of refugees in his town, and for saying he would ban more kebab restaurants from opening.
Last week Ménard refused to conduct a wedding between an Algerian man, who had received an order to leave France, and his French partner.
This was despite the courts having approved the union saying there was insufficient evidence to suggest it was a "white" wedding.
The couple, who waited for an hour at the town hall before being informed the ceremony would not happen, have filed a complaint against Ménard.
