I'm not long back from a dog walk with a good friend of mine who I haven't seen in some time. She has acquired a dog in the intervening period but is an experienced dog owner. We walked through woodland, her dog pooped next to the path and she kicked it into the undergrowth.
I did 😮face and she shrugged and said "It'll break down". This is now the fourth person I've walked with in recent months whose dog has pooped somewhere and rather than pick it up they've either kicked it to the side (bleurgh) or covered it up with leaves etc.
These are otherwise genuinely decent, sensible people whose judgment in most other areas I trust and respect.
What am I missing? Is this how many dog owners feel? For context I have a dog and unless she has pooped in a part of the undergrowth that I can't get to (rare - she's a public pooper) I will always pick it up. Always. Woodland or not.
I've challenged my friends gently by saying "But there are so many dogs and there's so much poo." but they just don't seem to get it. Children love to run around in woodland and often don't stick to the paths. But if everyone with a dog not only left it there but then went on to hide it... Ugh...
I don't know. I was really disappointed. But as I said it's happened a few times now. Is this generally what dog owners do these days? How are people justifying it to themselves?