A that's recently popped up does not impress the City of Vancouver.
The website looks like and links to the City of Vancouver's official site, but there are a couple of clues that it's not legitimate.
The two most obvious are the URL, which is (in part) www.vanpoover.ca. The other is the logo, which has been altered to read "City of Vanpoover."
Aside from that, the spoof site's structure is the same as the City of Vancouver's site, and it links to the City of Vancouver's site.
There appear to be five pages that are part of the Vanpoover spoof site, all to do with dog poop at city parks. Each page has photos and wording that doesn't quite fit in with the typical tone of the real City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»site.
"Dogs are welcome in all of Vancouver's parks. Whilst we encourage you to pick up and dispose of your dogs waste, the shear volume of dog poop means that our urban green spaces are smeared with faeces," reads one page, with an image of defecating dog above.
On another page filled with "dog poop data," the claim is made that dogs poop at Hinge Park (next to southeast False Creek) 150 times per day. The spoof site goes on to raise issues about park use in places where dogs poop.
Anti-dog poop movement
The site appears to be a way to encourage people to push back against dog poop being left in city parks. On one page about "" the site has statements encouraging people to leave two-star reviews on Google to demonstrate the frustration with dog poop.
"Dogs can (and do) poop on the sidewalks, in the flower beds, all over the parks — they even get their own off-leash areas to crap all over," reads the webpage. "They have the run of the city. People don't get any dog poop free space."
Over the years locals have used a variety of methods to discourage dog poop being left in public places, including one man who marked bags with signs and someone in Kitsilano making a threatening sign.
City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»pooh-poohs the site
The City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»recognizes that the site may be intended as satire, but the municipal government isn't a fan.
"[Sites like this] pose a real risk to the public by spreading misinformation under the guise of official City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»communications," reads a statement from the City. "We strongly encourage residents to rely on our official website——for accurate and up-to-date City information."
