This is how a dog lover dog lover and committed environmentalist would reply to Mr Jones’ dog poo letter (Sliema dog dirt, 6 July):

Every living creature on this planet, including dogs  and our anthropoid ancestors, has been poo-ing,   as Mr Jones coyly refers to it,   for around  450,000,000 years.  Yet evolution proceeded unhindered to the extent that it has been so remarkably successful that ultimately, poo and all,  it ultimately produced  homo sapiens.  

Having thus lived  and flourished  alongside the products of our internal  internal combustion for millions of years with impunity , would it not seem more in place for Homo sapiens to dwell upon a  more real man-made threat?  While the odd poo in our roads poses no greater hazard than the minor misfortune of stepping on it, which is said to bring good luck, the threat to our health  from vehicles emissions (by an invention of  homo sapiens)  is something very real in car-ridden Malta, as indisputably  demonstrated  by scientific evidence.   

Unfortunately, while dog poo is highly visible, vehicle pollution is not; so people don’t bother about it. The bottom line here is this: if Mr Jones drives a car, then his potential to do harm is far greater than what he refers to as irresponsible pet owners.

Reference to “people out jogging and walking every day” suggests that the subject of Mr Jones’ letter is the Sliema Promenade. A walk along the length of the promenade on the very day his letter appeared failed to confirm Mr Jones’ claim. Apart from the usual crisp bags, spent bus tickets, toffee wrappers, cigarette ends  etc.,  there was nothing to support Mr Jones’ accusation:  just  one dubious specimen which might have qualified for dog poo but  looked more like the effort of a constipated pet rabbit or a discarded chocolate-based substance. So much for irresponsible pet owners.

Surely, Mr Jones, there are more important things for creatures as evolved and highly sophisticated as homo sapiens to cogitate and expend printers ink upon than doggy-doo?  What is so depressing such  letters is that they discourage ownership of a creature that has uniquely evolved into a marvellous and loyal companion to humanity.

So, Mr Jones, let’s debate about more exalted and significant matters in life than dog-poo. 

G G Debono

Sliema