'I'm retired. I have time.' Woman targets porch thieves with stinky surprises

A Kansas City woman has special Christmas gifts for people who steal packages from porches or yards.

Poop — preferably fresh and fragrant.

Anna Nedeau has a hound, a Chihuahua and two cats who are pretty much poop machines. That takes care of the supply side.

As for demand, there’s plenty of that, too. Especially at this time of year.

So Nedeau collects the poop and puts it in boxes that she wraps with holiday paper. Then she places the boxes outside or gives them to others in her neighborhood crime watch network.

Porch thefts and even armed robberies put people on edge in Nedeau’s neighborhood east of the University of Kansas Hospital as well as in others, such as Hyde Park and West Plaza. To keep their spirits up, Nedeau and others decided to take action, even if it is rather passive aggressive.

“We started saving our Amazon boxes and putting our cat poo or dog poo in them,” she said. “You have to take all the addresses off because you don’t want retaliation.”

Nedeau places her boxes in the yard or on the sidewalk, as if someone had dropped them.

“I’ve been making them for neighbors that want them,” she said. “I’ve delivered some to Hyde Park. I’m retired. I have time.”

Nedeau emphasizes that her trick is essentially harmless.

“The thing about dog poo is it’s not a booby trap that’s going to hurt anybody.”

And, she says, “It cleans up your house.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 11:14 AM with the headline "'I'm retired. I have time.' Woman targets porch thieves with stinky surprises."