Aug 12, 2025 - Culture
Dog poop debate divides San Diego
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Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Axios San Diego readers are divided on dog poop disposal etiquette.
The big picture: People agree it's always best to pick up after pets on a walk, but they have strong opinions on whether it's socially acceptable to toss those stinky poop bags in someone else's trash bin.
- When we asked readers, some were appalled that anyone would ever use another's bin, while others said they don't mind or have specific circumstances that make it OK.
Zoom in: Those who are adamant that it's never OK don't want to be afflicted by the smell.
- "People often drop their dog poo in our empty garbage can in the window of time between when it gets emptied and when we take it in off of the street," Megan C. wrote. "I find it incredibly unneighborly, chiefly because we don't generate much garbage and we travel relatively often, so the poo may sit in our garbage can for several weeks before it is emptied."
- Alex B. says it's particularly wrong on hot summer months, when "a black bin becomes like a dutch oven," and he's not afraid to fight back.
- "Every time someone who has audacity to trespass so they can toss their dog waste in my bin - I offer my kids' dirty diapers in return - so they can enjoy the aroma without having kids," he wrote.
Others are cool with dookie sitting in their trash can.
- "Personally, I would not care about a sealed poo bag since waste is waste and better in someone's bin than on the ground," Laura J. says.
- Shelby H. typically doesn't toss dog doo in people's private bins, "but only because I'm a people pleaser and hate getting scolded. Personally, if it was my own bin, I'd say go right ahead! Better to have it off the street."
Some agree it's fine to share the load, but only under specific circumstances.
- Beverley P., a frequent pet sitter, usually carries the poop bag home or until she finds a public trash can. "However, I will drop it in someone else's trash if their trash can is on the street for trash day," she said.
- Lazy neighbors who leave their bins out can't complain, according to Scott S: "I say bring it home and toss it there UNLESS a neighbor's trash can has been out after the trash day has been passed."
- "If they would put it into trash before it's picked up, I'm OK with it," Gay W. said. "What I don't like is the bags being put in green waste, recycling blue bin or the empty trash. If put in the emptied trash, I have to live with their poop for a week."
The bottom line: While people disagree on best practices, no one wants you to leave your dog's poop for someone else to scoop.