Dog owners who don't clean up after their animals in a Spanish town could be traced through the DNA of their dog's faeces.
The city of Mislata, near Valencia, issued a notice on its website notifying dog owners that they must register their dog's DNA through a mandatory blood sample before December 31.
Street cleaners can then collect samples of abandoned dog poo and trace it back to the responsible canine and its owner.
"To avoid unpleasant faeces that some owners forget on the street, the city has launched a DNA analysis system that identifies droppings," says the council notice.
"Street cleaning staff will be responsible for collecting the sample [which], guarded by the local police, will be analysed in a laboratory."
Owners can be given a fine of €200 (NZ$306) for not picking up after their pet.
It's not the first hard measure Spain has taken against dog poo; the north-eastern city of Tarragona also threatened to use DNA analysis to find culprits in August 2015.
Madrid officials announced in April that dog owners who leave their animal's excrements could be made to work as street cleaners as a substitute for paying fines of up to €1500 (NZ$2300).
In 2014, the town of Colmenar Viejo, just north of Madrid, hired a private detective to roam its streets and track down dog owners who do not clean up after their pets.
The town of Brunete even began mailing dog poo back to pet owners' personal addresses in 2013.
And in May this year, a 9 foot, 30 kilogram inflatable sculpture of dog poo was placed in front of the town hall in Torrelodones in protest of increasing amount of abandoned canine faecal matter.
The sculpture was stolen shortly after.
Newshub.
