A typographical error might have unfortunate real-world consequences for the dog-walkers of North Hempstead, Long Island, NY. The town posted signs warning that people who don’t pick up their dogs’ leavings are subject to a $250 fine. The problem is that the real fine is $25. Sure, they could change the signs, but it might be easier to just change the real fine to match what the signs say instead.

Here’s their logic: there are hundreds of “no pooping” signs around town that would need to be replaced, but changing the fine on the books in the town code would only need to be done once. It’s not like the fine change would pose an undue hardship on hundreds of poop-leaving miscreants, either: someone would have to literally be caught in the act of performing a poop-and-run maneuver to receive a ticket, and that’s quite rare.

The existing signs only say that the maximum fine is $250, though, so who receives the maximum fine would be left to the town’s discretion, and they wouldn’t need to change the sign or the town code. This issue will surely be the subject of a spirited debate at a town meeting next week.

North Hempstead Considers Raising Dog Poop Fine To Match Mistake On Signs [CBS New York]