Every day in New York City, 15 undercover agents of the Sanitation Department’s Canine Task Force fan out across the five boroughs to enforce the city’s “pooper scooper” law.

That's nearly twice the staff of previous years, according to an article in today's New York Times that describes a day in the life of one such agent.

The city’s 311 complaint line received about 3,000 complaints about dog waste last year, up from 2,100 in 2004, and the beefed up poop patrol has issued 869 summonses in the first 11 months of this fiscal year -- a 40 percent increase over the year before.

The maximum fine of $100 has not changed since the law was passed 30 years ago -- and went on to serve as a model for other cities.

The penalty is likely to go up soon, the Times reports: A bill increasing it to $250 is awaiting Gov. David A. Paterson’s signature. A spokesman said Wednesday that the governor is reviewing the measure.