Dog waste DNA at apartments linked to owners

Now when your dog leaves his calling card on the neighbor's lawn, his name may really be on it.

The WaterSide at RiverPark Place apartment complex will start collecting dogs' DNA to find out which owners are leaving waste behind.

This month, dogs that live in the apartment complex will have their DNA collected and put in a database through PooPrints, a pet waste management company.

Joseph Tucker, owner of the PooPrints franchise in Louisville, said his company is helping to keep harmful bacteria from littering the grass and sidewalk, and also saving the property money on cleanup.

"This is a way for everyone to go green," Tucker said.

Tucker bought the franchise last year and said business is starting to increase. WaterSide at RiverPark Place will be the second location in the area to use this policy — PooPrints has already been implemented at a property in Shepherdsville.

Nationally, PooPrints has seen business pick up, with 30 distributors in the United States. Chelsea Luttrell, a sales manager for PooPrints who covers Tennessee, said business has been growing in Nashville and Knoxville; the company is looking to expand to Chattanooga next.

"There's a bigger awareness about the environmental issues," Luttrell said. Oftentimes, waste that's left behind can end up getting into the water system, she added.

She said most residents like PooPrints being implemented in their apartment complexes since it keeps the area cleaner. "They don't want their dog or their children getting into that mess."

Luttrell said PooPrints hopes to eventually work with cities to implement their program. "I definitely think this is a product that's going to expand," she said. "Everybody loves pets, and we see the pet industry growing as well."

When a PooPrints employee comes to the WaterSide at RiverPark Place apartment complex Aug. 16, owners will swab the inside of their dogs' mouths and the DNA will be put into a database, Tucker said. The cost of the mandatory swab is $50.

Tiffany Nolot, regional manager for Poe Companies, which owns the apartment complex, said residents have to comply with the policy because it's been added as an addendum to their lease.

"We just were having problems with people not picking up after their animals," she said.

When apartment personnel come across waste that a dog owner has failed to clean up, they can scoop it up and put it into a solution provided by PooPrints. It is then sent off to be tested. Tucker said it's an easy process that doesn't take much time.

Resident Rachael Verhalen, 22, said she cleans up after her 3-year-old Maltese, Calvin, but she's against the DNA system.

"This is not a really pet-friendly policy," she said.

"What comes next?" she said, jokingly adding that next they'll want to collect the residents' DNA to discourage peeing in the pool.

Dionne Templeton, assistant property manager for WaterSide at RiverPark Place, said residents will get a warning the first time their dog has been identified as having left feces behind. The second time, they will be fined $275 and if it happens a third time, they will be asked to remove their pet from the residence.

She said the complex "wanted to kind of keep residents accountable" for cleaning up the space on the property.

Templeton said even though some residents feel the policy is invasive there has been some positive response.

Resident Jane Ross, 65, said she's happy about the policy. She's the one who told the front office about PooPrints after hearing about it from an acquaintance.

"I've been grossed out by the number of people who haven't been cleaning up after their dogs," she said.

Ross said when she walks her 8-year-old wheaten terrier Isabelle, she always sees waste left behind in the grass from other dogs, so she thinks the $50 residents have to pay is worth it.

"And since we pick up, we know that'll be the only time we have to pay," Ross said.

Another resident, Joe Johnson, 28, said he also supports the new policy. He takes his dogs Sampson and Stella out before work while it's still dark and has to use his cellphone as a flashlight to avoid stepping in waste he can't see.

"From somebody that's dodging other people's, I'm OK with it," he said.

However, Johnson said since he has to pay $25 a month to keep each of his dogs in the apartment complex, he thinks the complex should have provided bags and waste bins to encourage people to comply with the rule to pick up after their dogs.

Once dogs are registered, owners can go to dnaworldpetregistry.com and add weight, height, vaccinations and pictures of their dog to the website.

Tucker said the added benefit of the website is that it helps keep track of a pet's vitals if there is ever an ownership problem — such as a dog running away. The database is also transferable, so if people move to another complex that requires the same policy, they won't have to swab their dogs again.

Nolot said that once the policy is implemented in August, "Essentially, the problem goes away because you can prove where it comes from."

Reporter Taylor Harrison can be reached at (502) 582-4589. Follow her on Twitter at @Taylorharrison5.