The value of dog poop has just risen.
We don't usually think of dog poop as being worth very much: nor indeed do we usually ascribe any positive value to it. Not unless we make our living cleaning shows that is, for then it might bring in some extra custom.
Unlike the poop of various other animals (cows and horses for example) it's not all that much use as a fertiliser and in areas where owners don't clean up after their dogs it's simply unsightly and smelly. There aren't even that many tanners left to use it (tanners have been known to use almost anything over the centuries to cure leather).
However, the value of that dog poop has just gone up in Taiwan.
City officials in Taichung, which has a population of one million, said on Wednesday the environmental protection bureau would give vouchers worth 100 Taiwan dollars ($3) for every kilo of dog poo collected. In areas of the city especially affected, the reward will be for every half-kilo.
Their problem is that there are too many strays. That's as a result of families finding that they can no longer afford to keep their pets and thus simply setting them free.
However, it has to be said that $3 per kilo is a pretty high price. Back of the envelope calculations with your humble reporter's own dogs indicate that a kilo can easily be generated in a day by a large and healthy dog. And you can certainly feed a dog on less than $3 a day. It might even be time to get into dog farming in Taiwan....
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