Warning: Photos portray a graphic representation of dog poop.

It's a bit jarring to drive down a quiet neighborhood street and see signs, along with two huge banners, depicting images of dog poop. This is the scene in Saltworks on the Severn, a water-privileged community, located off Epping Forest Road in Annapolis. The community has wide, tree-lined streets that feature a diverse mix of homes with curb appeal — and a dog poop problem.
 
Signs posted in front of the home of Jim and Marge Miller feature graphic language and images related to dog poop. Clearly, these homeowners decided to handle an ongoing problem in a unique way.
 
The two banners are bright yellow, about 5 feet wide and a foot tall. They state, "Attention dog owners: If you are allowing your dog to [poop] on my lawn, you should be ashamed of yourself. Please clean up after your dog!"

The banners aren't the only signs; about 15 feet away on the curb are a cluster of signs reading "dog [poop]" with arrows pointing down to the various piles left behind by a careless dog owner. The signs aren't actually in the Millers' yard — they're in the easement between the sidewalk and the curb.
 
"I only have one patch of grass on my property and I take pride in keeping it looking (to me) like the best grass in the neighborhood," Miller said.
 
Miller said he cares for his property by blowing leaves off his lawn daily. Discovering "land mines" of poop in front of his house has caused extreme frustration. Miller claimed he recently found eight piles of dog poop on his small stretch of grass and decided to take action.
 
He owns a printing business so he designed the signs at work and called a friend over to look at his creation. 
 
"My friend said, 'I don't know about this, Jim. Why don't you just make a flier and send it around to the neighbors?'"
 
Miller explained that he wanted to make a strong point and moved forward with producing the signs. Within an hour of the posting the signs on Dec. 2 around 5 p.m., Miller said six piles of poop were cleaned up and the smaller signs were in a pile. When he closely examined the scene, he saw that the remaining piles were actually smashed into the ground. This action made it more difficult to clean up the poop so he put back up three signs marking the locations.
 
When asked about any negative reactions from the neighbors, Miller replied, "Not a one. In fact, I had one gentleman double back when he saw me out front … I thought I was going to get yelled at; instead, he agreed with me."
 
Miller said other neighbors' reactions have been similar, echoing the sentiments of the signs and saying,  "Right on, Jim."

People not cleaning up after their dogs has been a long-time problem in the neighborhood, according to Miller who said that many residents are frustrated but didn't know how to handle the delicate subject.
 
While Miller hasn't heard any negative reactions, Greater Annapolis Patch received an anonymous tip from a reader who was concerned about the neighborhood children and the "vulgarity" of the message and images depicted.
 
Miller said he plans to keep the signs up until everyone cleans up after their dogs.
 
Yet, someone recently filed a case with the Anne Arundel County Office of Planning and Zoning about the placement of the signs. The easement between the sidewalk and the street is technically property owned by the county and not the homeowner, who maintains this area. The Office of Planning and Zoning oversees the placement of (and issues permits for) signs on any land in the county not owned by the state.

"The resident has every right to express his freedom of speech on his own private property but not in the county 'right of way,'" stated a county spokesperson. "The signs will have to come down."

The "right of way" is the area extending from private property to the road to service various utilities such as water and sewage.

Anne Arundel County Animal Control laws clearly state that animal waste must be cleaned up whether on a walk, in recreation park areas or on private property (other than your own personal property).

Individuals can report an "incident of excreta not being cleaned up" by going to the Animal Control website for an affidavit to submit. After submission, the offending party can choose to either pay the fine, request to appeal the citation before the Animal Control Commission or pay the fine after an appeal hearing where the citation was not dismissed. The affidavit claims can be denied so if you are adamant about filing a complaint, photo documentation can be helpful, according to the Animal Control office.

Editor's note: The writer was unable to get a comment from the local citizen's association after multiple attempts. It is unclear if the citizen's association has any plans to intervene at this time.