This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Pooping Puppy Problem Persists in Macungie

Borough resident Paul Smith addressed Macungie Borough Council during the public comment portion of Monday night's meeting to talk about his ongoing problem with a neighbor's dogs defecating on his property.

Paul Smith came to Monday's Macungie Borough Council meeting to talk about a problem that he's been dealing with for the past five years—and a pretty crappy one at that.

Smith, who lives on Main Street, has been having issues with his neighbor's dogs defecating in his yard and said he has made little progress in dealing the the problem through official borough channels.

Smith said he was motivated to share his problem with council when he learned of the plight of borough resident Jeannette Polizzi who lives on Village Walk Drive and had complained to council at the April 15 meeting about issues she was having with a neighbor's dog defecating in her yard.

Find out what's happening in Lower Macungiewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Athough Smith said the problem with the dogs has gone on for quite some time, he made a point of only sharing the details of what's happened since the beginning of 2013.

In particular, Smith wanted to call council's attention Feb. 28 when he said he and his wife were doing some work in the yard and his wife stepped on dog feces.

Find out what's happening in Lower Macungiewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I called the zoning officer and he came to my house and got the neighbor who said he had no idea how it got there," Smith explained. "I said, 'well it didn't fall from the sky.'"

Eventually, Smith said, his neighbor did clean up the mess.

Smith ended his time before council by describing a party at his home in which there were children playing outside and two dogs from the neighbor's property ran into his yard and "aggressively" approached the children.

Smith said it was a good thing that there were adults nearby to protect the kids.

Smith told council that the zoning officer said there is really nothing that can be done until the dog bites someone. He then criticized Macungie's dog ordinace for being all bark and no bite.

Council President Christopher T. Becker updated council on the Polizzi complaint. He said that he met with Polizzi, her neighbor Nina, the chief of police and the zoning officer and the "wheels are in motion" to get the matter resolved. 

Download the movie

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Lower Macungie