Citing a lack of clarity regarding the dog-poop rules of Smuggler Mountain Road, a judge acquitted an Aspen woman Friday of charges that she failed to pick up her canine’s feces.
Following a 90-minute trial, Marion Lansburgh and her husband, Leonard, walked out of Pitkin County Court with no fine to pay and their mission accomplished: to demonstrate that the poop was picked up, and the ticket was not warranted.
John Armstrong, Pitkin County open space and trails ranger, said he has “zero tolerance” when it comes to people who don’t pick up their pet’s poop, and he believes that’s the sentiment of the community as well. He said he spotted Lansburgh chatting on her cellphone when her dog, which was off-leash, defecated. When Armstrong asked her about it she pleaded ignorance, the ranger testified.
But Lansburgh then called out to her husband, who was not far behind, to remedy the problem. Armstrong said he had to show Leonard the location of the rogue poop, and the husband promptly bagged it. The statute, as it relates to poop, the judge noted, does not provide a stated time frame for when outlaw dung must be retrieved by the depositor’s owner or guardian.
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