It is one of my favourite parts of Sydney: Victoria Street in Potts Point, lined with grand terraces and huge trees which arch sleepily and provide cool shade in the middle of summer.
Dogs can turn inner-city parks into dog toilets. Credit: Getty Images
In those warmer months, it should be one of our city’s most pleasant localities – the murmur of young French backpackers loitering outside hostels; a sprinkling of cafes and restaurants; glimpses of the sparkling harbour and the gleaming city in the distance.
But like so many other dense parts of Sydney, Victoria Street has an invisible problem. As temperatures increase and the humidity rises, the litres of canine urine excreted onto poor Victoria Street’s paths and gutters heats up, forming a festering vapour of acidic stench that has effectively made what should be one of our city’s most beautiful streets an open-air dog toilet.
The invisible problem was best illustrated by the entitlement of one man I witnessed earlier this year. Proudly carrying a Sydney Writers Festival tote bag in one hand, and holding the leash of his gargantuan greyhound in the other, he paused as the canine unleashed what seemed like a high-pressure hose of urine. The man, who busied himself on his phone, didn’t look back as he walked away from the puddle on the footpath.
As a society, we have become increasingly intolerant of others. Smokers have been banished from al fresco dining areas, because passive smoke may drift to non-smoking diners. Residents have successfully lobbied their local councils to restrict restaurants and nightclubs from operating late at night because the noise of people talking might affect their sleep.
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In economics, these are termed externalities: consequences of an activity which affects other parties. In these domains, lawmakers and local authorities have recognised and acknowledged their effects. But when it comes to dog owners, they have so far failed to act.
Perhaps the growth in canine ownership means it is time that they should. The latest statistics show in 2023 there were 1285 dogs per square kilometre in the City of Sydney local council area and 34,000 registered dogs.
Cat owners are often maligned and attacked in the media for being irresponsible and a menace to local native wildlife.
