Krysia Diver in Stuttgart
Monday March 28, 2005

Politicians want to force the owners of the city's 12,000 dogs to register for compulsory DNA tests, so that any careless deposit on a pavement or in a park can be tested and traced to the animal responsible - triggering a hefty fine for its registered owner.

"In this way, Dresden will once again be one of the cleanest cities in Germany," said Roland Putzger, the leader of the local council.

Many local dog owners have proved unwilling to brandish a plastic bag or "pooper scooper" to clean up after their pets, despite the threat of financial penalties.

"You hardly get out the door and the obstacle course begins," reported the German television news programme, Tagesschau.

"The way to the supermarket, the way to work and the way to the bus stop are all smeared with dog dirt."

But the fear that the dog's deed will no longer remain anonymous could be enough to conquer the problem, said Karl Jobig, a Christian Democrat politician in Dresden.

Mr Jobig and his colleagues were so fed up with dodging the obstacle course that the matter was raised at an advisory council meeting. To their surprise, the DNA suggestion received a majority vote.

It is now proposed that Dresdeners will have to register their dogs for "genetic fingerprinting" to be collected from blood or saliva.

The notion that this might infringe "canine rights" has been dismissed by Saxony's data protection commissioner, Andreas Schurig, who ruled that as dogs were not human they had no rights over their data and could not object to the compulsory tests.

The proposal will be binding if it receives a majority vote at a Dresden city council meeting in May.

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