Errant dog poop on the grounds of City Gate by High Street is a rarity, as the Langford building management is among the residences in Greater Victoria that uses DNA to hold dog owners accountable.
They’re sadly common images across the region – a sneaky pile left behind when no one is looking, or a bag snagged on the bushes after a summer fling is revealed as leaves fall in autumn.
But in the building where Marie Allen and Daisy live, the grounds are fairly safe – residents there are either inherently honest and tidy, or know they could face the poo police and a little accountability.
“This was so different, because I’ve lived in an apartment before and everybody left their dog poo everywhere,” Allen said. “When we applied here, the guy also let us know you have to do a DNA registry for your dogs so that if they poo on the property, the people that run the property can go around and pick it up and test it, and you will be fined.”
Opened in August 2025, the City Gate is among the strata and rental sites Highstreet Communities uses the DNA-matching PooPrints program. It requires all dog owners to provide a cheek-swab DNA sample of their dog before moving in to hold owners accountable for any uncollected waste.
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“The program works very well. It’s a simple DNA swab for all incoming dogs which gets sent to the Poo Prints lab. Once uploaded to their system, we can send in samples and trace it back to the dog whose owner didn’t pick up after it,” a spokesperson told the Goldstream Gazette. “The goal is to help eliminate pet waste that owners may leave behind. … We find that people are very intrigued by the program and don’t mind participating in the program to help keep their community clean.”
“It’s not rocket science,” said PooPrints consultant Garry Bradamore. PooPrints, the company City Gate uses, has more than 1.2 million dogs registered in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. For them, the idea is to expand pet access, allowing properties more freedom in allowing pets.
The company’s been around since 2008, he’s been on board since 2016. In the U.S., PooPrints works with a lot of parks and municipalities – while in Canada it’s all residential.
“Most of our communities are in Western Canada because that’s where most of the provinces out there have the ability to choose whether they want to accept residents with pets or not,” Bradamore said. “It ranges between smaller communities with eight or 10 units and then we have buildings like City Gate.”
On a weekly basis he will see pet owners and dogs moving from one community to another, and there’s no added cost for the pet owner because they’ve already done it for the lifetime of the dog.
Allen didn’t mind ponying up a little dog saliva and one-time $75 fee to allow her furry family member a home when she moved into the building in February.
Each walk Allen and Daisy take on the property, both are happy those who tend toward laziness are held accountable.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody’s dog poo literally anywhere,” Allen said, “and I appreciate it.”
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About the Author: Christine van Reeuwyk
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