Taiwan city to offer dog poop lottery

Participants will be given one lotto ticket in exchange for collected dog waste.

TAIPEI: A city in northern Taiwan will run an innovative scheme to keep its streets clean by encouraging residents to collect dog pooh for a chance to win gold.

New Taipei City, which surrounds the capital, will in July offer residents who collect canines' waste the chance to enter a lucky draw, the United Evening News newspaper reported Saturday.

Those taking part in the scheme will be given one lottery ticket in exchange for the dog waste they collect for a chance to enter the draw, which has a top prize of a gold ingot worth $2,000, it said.

The scheme ran for the first time last year, and proved a success attracting more than 20,000 participants.