NJ condo is using dog waste DNA to track down owners and fine them $250 if they don't stoop and scoop. Why this tactic has some worried about costs

For resident Daniella Tineo-Cohn, the program hits close to home, as much as she appreciates it.

"It's all about keeping us all accountable," she told News 12 (1).

She said her son failed to scoop the family dog’s poop outside — resulting in a $250 fine which Tineo-Cohn deducted from his allowance.

“It’s really a deterrent,” property manager Ortiz adds. “Most of the time we never have repeat offenders. It’s one and done, and they’re like, ‘Lesson learned.’”

It's all part of an increasingly popular — and controversial — enforcement strategy. Hudson Harbor complex launched the DNA testing program in partnership with PooPrints in 2022.

Today, PooPrints says it serves 9,000 communities across the U.S. Canada, Mexico and the U.K., with hundreds of thousands of dogs registered in its DNA database (2).

As popular as it is, some residents view DNA collection and enforcement as an invasion of privacy or overstep by property management.

Here’s how it works and how to avoid getting caught on the wrong side of the poop.

Dog DNA surveillance: Privacy versus pollution

For communities with mandatory participation, it’s typically part of a lease agreement or a condominium bylaw.

All pet owners at Hudson Harbor must submit a cheek swab from their dogs as part of the registration process with PooPrints.

Then when Ortiz sends a sample of dog poop, PooPrints lab technicians can compare its DNA with that in the original cheek swab.

PooPrints use a process similar to human forensic analysis, examining 16 genetic markers in all to find matches to any of the dogs in their registered database. Odds range from one in a million to 1 in 60 sextillion (3).

If there’s a match, property managers can identify the owner responsible for the dog and fine them.

While some residents may express concern about privacy, Canine Journal reports that neither PooPrints nor competitors like Mr Dog Poop Inc share a dog's DNA results with anyone other than pet owners and property managers (4).

Meanwhile, property managers argue that dog DNA surveillance is necessary.

Roughly 40% of dog owners don't pick up after their pets, according to Live Science (5).

In a high-rise with 200 dogs, that could mean 160 piles of waste per day from non-compliant owners. It’s not only unsightly and possibly smelly, but comes with environmental concerns.

The Environmental Protection Agency classifies dog waste as a pollutant in the same category as herbicides, insecticides, toxic chemicals from motor vehicles and acid drainage from abandoned mines.

The School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington adds that a single gram of dog waste contains about 23 million coliform bacteria — nearly twice as much as human waste (6).

Rain washes that bacteria into storm drains, rivers and lakes, introducing harmful bacteria like E. coli and salmonella.

Don’t let penalties take a bite out of your finances

Chesleigh Fields is chief scientist at BioPet Laboratories, PooPrints’ parent company. She told CNBC the company documented a 95% drop in violations after pets were registered (7).

So it’s clearly worth it to property managers.

But whether this high-tech solution represents responsible community management or overreach likely depends on which side of the plastic bag you're standing on. It definitely comes with costs.