New Delhi: Things have been rather ‘unpleasant’ between the residents of two housing societies in Ghaziabad for the last 10 days — they’ve been flinging dog poop into each other’s compounds from across a shared boundary wall.
The societies in question are Vijaya Apartments and India Moon City in Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram. Matters have escalated to such an extent that one of the societies is contemplating a night vigil to catch the culprits.
This scatological conflict is one of countless pet owners versus non-pet owners disputes that are a regular feature in almost every RWA WhatsApp group in the country, often boiling down to nasty arguments, police complaints and even violence.
It all started on 17 February, when a resident from Moon City, out on a morning walk, noticed balls of newspaper stuffed with dog poop lying near the boundary wall. Shocked, he raised an alarm and accused the residents of Vijaya Apartments of flinging the filth over the wall.
The next day, dog poop was found at the spot again, and then again on the following day.
On the third day, a few unknown residents from Moon City decided to fling the poop back into Vijaya Apartments over the wall.
The Moon City residents and administration suspect that Vijaya Apartments residents are throwing the poop in newspapers from their balconies.
A resident from Moon City told ThePrint: “If they throw poop in our society, we will throw it back to make them understand how it feels.”
At Vijaya Apartments, the matter has become a subject of discussion as well, with residents wondering who the culprits are.
“Now they (Moon City residents) are throwing the poop back to Vijaya. Whosoever is throwing their pet poop into Moon City, please stop it. They are planning to put cameras facing our area,” read a message in the Vijaya Apartments WhatsApp group.
A resident from Vijaya Apartments told ThePrint: “We are considering a night vigil to identify the poop-throwers.”
Another society resident said that “there are a few people who don’t want to follow things ethically”.
“They are all educated people, yet they don’t understand that dog poop should be put in a polythene. We have cameras but they don’t record,” he rued.
This resident is a dog-lover who started looking after strays in the area by offering them food and water and taking them to the vet when needed. Both societies were initially critical of him feeding the dogs, but eventually came around.
The matter of the dog poop has, however, disappointed him and he feels that people might turn hostile towards dogs as a result.
“If you are picking the poop, why can’t you throw it in the dustbin. Is it too difficult?” he asked.
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‘Points to society’s failure’
In the WhatsApp groups of both societies, discussions are on for the purchase of CCTV cameras to secure the wall.
“We all should be ready to contribute to getting CCTV cameras installed to catch hold of the culprits in the community if the poop is not picked,” a message in the Vijaya Apartments group read.
Some residents of the society said the matter escalated because it is unclear where to throw the dog poop.
“There is no clarity on how to dispose of the poop. Throwing in bins is not allowed and disposing it along with garbage is also not acceptable. And people are so lazy, they’re just flinging it on to the other side of the wall,” said Jai Mishra from Vijaya Apartments.
“Other than sheer insanity, it highlights society’s failure in not framing pet-friendly rules or deciding on norms after discussing with pet parents,” he added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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