It's National Scoop the Poop Week

Palm Coast Observer
Neighbors

It wasn't on my calendar, no one mentioned it on Facebook – no, I had to learn about National Scoop the Poop Week from a fellow blogger.

How is it this is not an official holiday? You know, a holiday where the banks are closed, the kids are off from school and we all stay home to scoop poop.

Gifts of doggie bags and long-handled scoops could be exchanged – and greeting cards! I drove down to Publix and in the greeting card aisle I found birthday cards, get well cards, anniversary cards, graduations cards – and more than a month early – Mother's Day cards. But not one solitary Scoop the Poop Week greeting card. Hallmark you are missing out on a “gold” mine; watch your step.

According to my sources, who can't agree on anything, this vital week-long observance either starts on April Fools Day or on April 4th. Either way it lasts a week. To be on the safe side I will celebrate through next Monday, April 11.

In all seriousness, this shouldn't be observed one day, or one week. It should be celebrated every day, every time you take your dog out for a walk.

Doggie doo is more than an unattractive nuisance. It's bad for the environment, as the poop not scooped, leaches into the soil and eventually runs off into water supplies. This makes it a health hazard for you, your pet and the fish in the sea. You know the fish you're having for dinner tonight? It is one of the leading sources of Parvo in dogs, a potentially fatal disease, and of E. coli, bad for the rest of us.

So as you celebrate this holiday, please bend and scoop, and encourage others to do the same; and if you want to give gifts, carry extra doggie bags.

Next holiday I need to remember – Hug your cat day on June 4.