By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – It’s tough this time of year to tell dirt on the sidewalk from dried-out dog waste.

Marvin Coker can do it. He spends at least half an hour every day, led by his rat terrier Precious, dodging the piles that litter the sidewalks and roads around his Bradley Street apartment.

“It’s appalling that it’s this bad,” he said. “It’s really embarrassing, I think.”

He’s familiar with every pile.

“That’s dirt,” he said during a walk this week, pointing to one smudge. “That’s poop, and that’s poop right there. It’s tough walking here because you don’t want to step in it. People call them Lewiston land mines.”

He’s tired of dodging them, tired of walking past yards covered with them and tired of having to scoop them up out of his yard.

“I just want people to clean up after their pets,” he said. “I always carry at least two bags with me whenever I take my dog out. It’s easy, so why can’t more people do it?”

The piles of frozen dog feces are bad enough, but Coker and others know the problem will get worse.

“It’s just a visual problem as long as it’s cold,” said Gil Arsenault, Lewiston’s code enforcement director. “But once it warms up, it can get pretty odoriferous, too.”

There are two kinds of problems with pet waste, according to city ordinances. One concerns dog feces left behind in an owner’s yard. The other is litter left behind by other people’s dogs. The first can be a problem for neighbors.

“We do get quite a few complaints this time of year from people worried about their neighbors,” Arsenault said. Code enforcement officers will call property owners, reminding them to clean up after their dogs. They rarely check back, however, to see if things have been cleaned up.

“We really rely on the neighbors to call us back if things don’t change,” he said.

Can’t do stakeouts

Animal Control Officer Wendell Strout gets calls from people worried about unknown dogs leaving packages behind. Owners can be fined for littering – if they’re caught.

“We can’t really tell one pile from the other, and I don’t have time to stake out a corner waiting to see what people do,” Strout said.

Someone once delivered a sample to his desk on a pie plate.

“What did they expect me to do with it? I couldn’t check it for DNA,” he said.

Coker said he’ll continue doing his part, picking up after Precious and keeping his own yard clean. He’s urging others to follow his lead.

“I had one woman come right up and hug me, just for scooping up after my dog,” he said. “So, obviously, I’m not the only one who cares about this.”

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