Dog Poop Lottery Cleans Up City

Faced with an excess of dog mess, a Taiwanese city developed a novel solution: Scoop the poop and win a prize. Sounds like it worked. Some 4,000 people presented authorities in New Taipei City with 14,500 bags of feces, cutting local dog poop by half, the BBC reports. Each bag was worth a single lottery ticket. The top prize, won by a 50-something woman yesterday, was a gold ingot valued at $2,200.

Some 85 people won prizes ranging from more gold to household appliances. It remains unclear whether the winners were dog owners picking up after their pets or just locals collecting poop for prizes. Either way, city officials hope they've inspired cleaner habits that will continue even with the contest over. (More strange stuff stories.)