A Long Island community is pilot-testing a program that identifies unscooped dog feces to the pet and its owner.
It's part of an effort to enforce the curbing of dogs in the apartment complex in Rockville Centre.
The New York Post reports the new rental building -- the Avalon Bay Community complex -- has ordered DNA-sampling kits for dogs. Under the program, saliva samples would be taken from dogs, then sent to a Tennessee lab for DNA analysis and registration in the DNA World Pet Registry.
If a stool is found on the grounds, a marble-sized sample would be taken from it and shipped in a plastic tube to the the lab in Knoxville, Tenn., where it would be matched to the dog.
The owner could then be fined from $50 to $100, though building management would ultimately decide whether to do so, according to the Post.
The PooPrint program -- whose motto is "Match the Mess Through DNA" -- expects to have 300 franchises open by the end of the year, the Post says.
The building currently requires a one-time $650 pet fee and a monthly $50 charge for either a cat or a dog.
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Avalon management told the Post the program is not under way yet, but that it is a good idea.
The DNA company said an average dog dumps 276 pounds of waste a year, and about 40 percent remains unscooped.
