Kearny resident Eileen Verdi generally has a good finger on the pulse of what’s happening in her beloved town. And when she doesn’t like something, she often speaks out, just as she did when the Keegan Landfill saga dragged on in 2019.
She was upset, again, on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, when the Kearny mayor and council meet on Zoom.
This complaint was about something equally as horrid in smell, but it’s something we could all fix without the need for the stroke of the governor’s pen — picking up dog poop from the streets.
The John Hay Avenue resident says it’s become a “major problem” in her neighborhood — from John Hay to Schuyler Avenue. But it’s not just there. No matter where she goes, she says she sees entirely too many instances where people allow their pooches to go, without picking it up afterward.
We concur. This is a major issue plaguing Kearny’s streets, and it’s something easily fixed. Lazy dog owners need to do their part by scooping it up after the dog leaves a mess.
While there are fines for not picking up the mess, it’s entirely difficult to enforce, Mayor Alberto G. Santos noted, because the town can ill afford to send anyone out to enforce the law. Of course, he says given the number of Ring cameras out there, it could be possible to catch the violators on video — and the little blue light that comes on when the cameras are active could serve as a deterrent if the offenders notice them as they prepare to scram without the pickup.
Here’s the bottom line, nonetheless — people, if you have a dog (and many more people do now because of the pandemic), just pick it up and discard the poop properly. Remember what it was like long ago when no one curbed their dogs — and your shoes would be covered in it because of an accidental misstep? Do you really want that to possibly happen? Of course you don’t.
So for crying out loud, to the small number of offenders, do the right thing and don’t leave your pup’s mess for someone else.
There’s not much else more disgusting than to do otherwise.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.