[This post is also published over at www.blogs.denmark.dk – the official website of
Denmark run by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
My friend and I were down at the beach for our daily skinny dip on Monday
morning and spied this, right in the middle of the pavement. A dog poo. With a
Danish flag in it…
Now, of course, those crazy (but lovable) Danes love to fly their flag round the clock. So you get used to seeing them all
over the place (shop windows, birthday parties, public buildings, on buses, etc,
etc). But I’d personally never seen one stuck in a dog poo. And it certainly
stuck out like a sore thumb in the slightly-snooty-oldy-worldly-chic district of
Klampenborg. Which, on a sidenote, is part of the ‘Whisky Belt’ area north of
Copenhagen. The area where all the rich Danes live. Those who can
afford to drink whisky
So what was the (carefully placed) flag doing there?
Well, it turns out it’s a form of protest. (Search google pictures with the
words “hundelort” and “flag” and see for yourself.) To bring
attention to dog poos on pavements. To shame (dirty) dog owners. And warn
unsuspecting pedestrians. According to the website hundelort.com (literally ‘dog poo.com’), using
the flag is also practical. Once the poo has dried, simply remove it with the
stick. Ha!
Being a houseowner (with a very long fence…), I also get tired of removing
dog poo left outside our gate. Guess what I came home to on Monday morning? Yep. Poo! So I joined in the protest. And stuck a Danish flag in it.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!