Oh poop! San Francisco has a major homeless problem

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Nobody likes dog doo, but a far more troubling issue in San Francisco concerns burgeoning complaints about human messes in the city as revealed in a series of "poop maps."

Web developer Jennifer Wong (a.k.a. mochimachine) created her Human Wasteland maps based on complaints to the city about human poop. She has turned the data into a compelling picture of where the problem exists, using images of tiny poops marked on monthly maps covering complaints from January to June 2013 (approximately 4,000 "data points").

The maps not only show the worst neighborhoods for the messes, but are also a graphic indication of the city's homeless situation. Estimates of San Francisco's homeless population range from 6,000 to 10,000.

Funding cuts for Parks and Recreation has slashed the number of functioning public bathrooms, leaving the homeless few choices.

"It's easy for people to place blame on the homeless," Wong tells Mashable. "But they need to take a look at the bigger picture and see that they have nowhere to go, to sleep, use the toilet, to shower. The obvious solution is to provide more public facilities throughout the city."

As for Wong herself, she reports on the map website that she has never seen human waste in the city, "even though she's a native."