Residents of one Toronto neighbourhood are fed up with irresponsible dog owners leaving mounds of dookie on sidewalks and in public parks, so much so that they've even taken to installing signs and free poop bags around the community.

Users in a private Facebook group dedicated to the Canary District (West Don Lands) have shared images of the local response to the neighbourhood's constant dog poop problem, including doodie disposal baggies tied around area bike locks and stuffed into the holes in City signposts.

One local explained on Facebook, "I've put up some poo bags around the underpass and Rolling Mills St. towards Eastern... hope this will help the lazys [sic]."

There's some people in my neighbourhood taking action against lazy dog owners. They aren't standing for their sh*t pic.twitter.com/D344ygf9G6

— Anne Marie Aikins (@AMAprmaven) April 29, 2024

Local resident Anne-Marie Aikins, who re-shared some of the images on X, tells blogTO that "Canary District, Corktown and Leslieville have always been my home since moving to Toronto nearly 30 years ago."

"The growing neighbourhoods are filled with many caring, socially conscious and diverse people, and many, many dogs."

Aikins says that it's pretty standard in her condo building to share elevator rides with at least one or two dogs.

She said that while "most people are very responsible dog owners," a handful of bad apples "don't stoop and scoop after their dogs' poop in the beautiful green parks and wide boulevards."

As for the creative signage and little baggies deployed around the community, Aikins says that she is "not surprised my neighbours are taking this type of creative activism. And I hope it's effective."

Aside from being a basic social responsibility, picking up your doggo's dung is the law.

As per official City bylaws, "every owner of a dog shall immediately remove excrement left by the dog on property anywhere within the city other than the property of the owner," reads Chapter 349 of the Toronto Municipal Code.

Those who are caught ignoring this bylaw face fines of up to $240, though this would require a bylaw enforcement officer to literally be walking by a negligent dog owner in the act.

Locals in other Toronto neighbourhoods have taken action over pet poop in the past, and this is just the latest case of an area fighting back against a select group of people not playing by the rules.

So, sure. I think most of us can agree that scooping poop is an objectively unenjoyable experience. But it sure beats the misery of stepping directly into a freshly-extruded turd, a pain you're likely to inflict on neighbours by leaving that excrement exposed.