According to the Mairie de Paris (city hall), there are about 150,000 Parisian dogs depositing about 16 tons of—you know what—on the sidewalks annually. (Some sources say there are 550,000 canines in the city!) Mayor Delanoe’s edict in 2002 about cleaning up after your pets hasn’t exactly been followed (1/25/07 post); although 97% of dog owners claim that they do.... So the Mairie is launching a new ad campaign this week trying to persuade Parisians into keeping their city clean.
They are using humor as posted on this sign instead of the threat of fines as posted on the 2002 signs (183 euros which was largely ignored). The message is designed to be “neither moralizing nor repressive.” Its official goal is to recognize and highlight a positive evolution in current behaviors. The loose translation is, "All the left feet say: more and more dog owners pick up their pet droppings in Paris."
Frankly, I’ll be surprised if the clean-soled, talking left shoe really convinces many dog owners to tidy up after their cheries. The French just don’t seem to be receptive to all the "feel good" babble Americans are used to.
