The rain in Spain may fall mainly on the plain, but the dog poop is apparently falling all over the place. Not content to see its streets soiled by callous canines, the town council of Hernani, near San Sebastian in northern Spain, is employing high-tech forensics to keep dog owners in line. A new bylaw requires residents to register their dogs’ DNA with a government database. DNA samples from trespassing turds will be used to indentify the offending pooch, subjecting his owner to a fine of 300 Euros ($430). Refusing to register a dog will also incur a fine.

"People should not to have to suffer this filth," Hernani’s fantastically- and unpronounceably-named mayor Marian Beitialarrangoitia told The Daily Telegraph.

The database has a less draconian secondary benefit, making it easier to reunite lost dogs with their owners. But that’s cold comfort to the policy’s opponents, who have taken the now obligatory step of setting up a protest page on Facebook. They note that properly disposing of Fido’s feces is already difficult due to a recent council decision to remove public waste receptacles.

All of which leads one to infer that Beitialarrangoitia and the rest of the town council are unapologetic cat people.

Source: The Daily Telegraph