REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- A Redwood City apartment complex expects to be the first in the Bay Area to "DNA print" the solid waste from pets as a high-tech solution to the age-old and often gross dilemma of owners who refuse to curb their dogs.

View the KTVU video report.

Redwood City's Maddux Park has long battled the dog-deposit problem.

"I think you need to be responsible," said Redwood City resident and park user Donna Evan. "Take care of your dog and clean it up so little babies aren't walking through it.

"Neighbors told KTVU they were also fed up.

"It's a pain in the neck," said neighbor Eleanor Forbes. "Our gardener comes Tuesday we have to check all the lawns and you have pick it up before he comes, 'cause it makes a mess out of everything.

"Tennessee-based company BioPet Vet Labs is now offering what may be the high-tech answer to catching those who refuse to curb their dogs. It's DNA identification that one might call a "poop-print.

"Apartment manager and dog lover Mary Michaels said dogs owned by residents in her pet-friendly building may be the Bay Area's first to be required to submit DNA samples.

"I can hardly wait to get this thing going," said Michaels.

The samples will be stored and then checked against any mess found on the apartment grounds.

The kits are being sold by BioPet Vet Labs online from their website www.pooprints.com.

"Mail in a thumb-size sample of feces in a solution that we provide and then we extract the DNA from that solution and match it back to the dog," explained BioPet spokesman Jim Simpson in a phone interview.

Michaels said she plans to bill any guilty owners the $60 test fee.

"They have to learn to pick up after their pets," said Michaels. "If I have to put them to shame, then that's what I'll have to do."

Apartment complex residents told KTVU they welcome consequences for lack of responsibility.

"The people who decide not to take the responsibility will get in trouble for it, so I think it's a good idea," said tenant Jennifer Ardon.

Michaels' plan could start this summer.