There are many health risks associated with pet waste and dog poop.
The hazards of pet poop is not only environmental but also lends itself to what is called zoonotic diseases (which means an infectious disease that is transmitted to a human from an animal).
DOG FECES IS FAR FROM FERTILIZER!
Facts About the Dangers of Dog Poophttp://dogtalk101.blogspot.com/2010/01/facts-about-dangers-of-dog-poop.html
Dog poop is a problem we deal with on a daily basis. But is it dangerous? How much do you know? Is pet waste a health hazard?
Here are the dangerous facts:
1. Dog poop is NOT good fertilizer. It's toxic to your lawn! The high nutrient concentration in dog poop will burn and discolor the grass, creating "hot spots".
2. Nearly two decades ago, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified pet waste as a dangerous pollutant in the same category as toxic chemicals and oil.
3. You may not live near water, but unscooped poop from your yard is carried by overland water flow or is washed into storm drains, ending up in far away streams, rivers and ground water.
4. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms pet waste can spread parasites including hookworms, ringworms, tapeworms and Salmonella. When infected dog poop comes into contact with your lawn, the poop will eventually "disappear", but the parasite eggs can linger for years! When a human or animal comes into contact with that soil through everyday activities like walking barefoot, gardening or playing, they risk infection from those eggs ... even years after the poop is gone.
5. Pet waste is teaming with E. Coli and other harmful bacteria including fecal coliform bacteria, which causes serious kidney disorders, intestinal illness, cramps and diarrhea in humans. (There are 23 million fecal coliform bacteria in a single gram of pet waste!)
6. Dog poop often contains roundworm larvae, which cause blindness. If a human ingests a roundworm larva, it can migrate through the body causing disease to the brain, lungs, kidneys, liver, heart or eyes. So when people (especially children) touch soil, dog toys or anything that has been in contact with dog feces and then touch their mouths, they can become infected.
Facts About the Dangers of Dog Poophttp://dogtalk101.blogspot.com/2010/01/facts-about-dangers-of-dog-poop.html
Dog poop is a problem we deal with on a daily basis. But is it dangerous? How much do you know? Is pet waste a health hazard?
Here are the dangerous facts:
1. Dog poop is NOT good fertilizer. It's toxic to your lawn! The high nutrient concentration in dog poop will burn and discolor the grass, creating "hot spots".
2. Nearly two decades ago, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified pet waste as a dangerous pollutant in the same category as toxic chemicals and oil.
3. You may not live near water, but unscooped poop from your yard is carried by overland water flow or is washed into storm drains, ending up in far away streams, rivers and ground water.
4. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms pet waste can spread parasites including hookworms, ringworms, tapeworms and Salmonella. When infected dog poop comes into contact with your lawn, the poop will eventually "disappear", but the parasite eggs can linger for years! When a human or animal comes into contact with that soil through everyday activities like walking barefoot, gardening or playing, they risk infection from those eggs ... even years after the poop is gone.
5. Pet waste is teaming with E. Coli and other harmful bacteria including fecal coliform bacteria, which causes serious kidney disorders, intestinal illness, cramps and diarrhea in humans. (There are 23 million fecal coliform bacteria in a single gram of pet waste!)
6. Dog poop often contains roundworm larvae, which cause blindness. If a human ingests a roundworm larva, it can migrate through the body causing disease to the brain, lungs, kidneys, liver, heart or eyes. So when people (especially children) touch soil, dog toys or anything that has been in contact with dog feces and then touch their mouths, they can become infected.
Dog poop doesn't just "wash away" or disappear. So if you're not disposing of your dog's waste, you're putting yourself, your family, your dog and your water supply at risk.Study shows prevalence of “walking dogs without picking up the poop droppings in L.A. at more than 82,000 times EACH MONTH.” Read the 1997 Los Angeles study conducted by Pelegrin Research Group here:
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/erasethewaste/swpollution.html#effects
Dog Poop Poses Disease Risk: Scoop Fido's Feces While It's Still Fresh
Once a week, Dwight Farias-Rios visits Max's yard to clean up after him. The owner of Call of Doodie, a pet waste removal service in New Jersey, is typically welcomed by about 14 mounds of the American Bulldog's feces -- some droppings fresher than others.
"Poop is gross," Farios-Rios told The Huffington Post. "It's also not healthy."
That can go for both pets and their human companions.
In fact, Max had been suffering sequential bouts ofgiardia infections before his owners hired Farias-Rios to do his weekly dirty work. "A vet had fixed Max up," he told The Huffington Post, "but then he kept going back out into the yard and catching [giardia] again because the owner didn't clean up his waste."
A long list of potentially infectious agents are known to live in dog and cat feces -- from E. coli to tapeworms. But perhaps less well known is the fact that a lot of these parasites actually become more infectious as the poop ages.
"It takes many types of parasite eggs a while to ripen," said Dr. Emily Beeler, an animal disease surveillance veterinarian for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Toxoplasmosis, which is more common in cats than in dogs, typically takes more than 24 hours to become infectious, she explained. Roundworm can take up to three weeks, and then may remain infectious for years in contaminated soil and water. (A recent CDC study found 14 percent of Americans tested positive for roundworms.)
Of course, this is not to say that fresh is always best. Newly dropped doo-doo still contain tons of bacteria, noted Dr. Beeler, which may also pose a health risk.
"People just tend to think [old poop] is not as smelly, a little less disgusting," and therefore easier to scoop or simply ignore, added Dr. Beeler, who co-authored a report on the link between animal feces and infectious diseasethis summer.
In his song "Ordinary Average Guy", quoted by a HuffPost reader WarrenPease in the comments section of a July poop-scooping story, Joe Walsh reflects this common attitude:
Every Saturday we work in the yard /
Pick up the dog doo /
Hope that it's hard (woof woof)
While Farias-Rios noted that Max is back to being a happy and healthy hound, Emily and other experts warn that once-a-week poop-scooping -- which is also typical of other businesses in the arising industry such as The Grand Poobah, Entremanure -- is still not enough to ensure the safety of pets and people.
"We recommend daily pickup of stool, no matter who is doing it," Dr. Beeler told HuffPost.
Max actually does his "doodie" in the front yard, potentially exposing neighborhood dogs in addition to himself. Further, both he and the neighboring mutts could also share the parasites, viruses and bacteria with their owners. When HuffPost spoke with Farias-Rios, he had just returned from doing an estimate at another potential client's home. The family's dogs use the backyard as their bathroom and end up stepping in their own poop and tracking it inside.
"Now there's a possibility of E. coli poisoning for the kids and family," he said. Of course, not all pathogens affect humans, and not all pathogens that affect humans show symptoms in pets.
Janet Geer, spokesperson for Seattle-based Puget Sound Starts Here, a partnership of regional governments dedicated to improving local water quality, also urges more frequent clean-up to limit these risks. As HuffPost reported in July, her organization is leading a campaign, complete with a music video to the tune of "No Diggity," aimed to persuade people to pick up after their pets. The public service announcements instruct how to "bag it up" and toss it in the trash.
Since the launch of Dog Doogity, Geer said she continues to see increasing social awareness and decreasing evidence of fugitive feces. Some Puget Sound-area cities have recently instituted new laws, even going as far as to require the removal of pet waste from private property every 24 hours, on top of an all-out ban on leaving any poop in public.
The education campaign continues. "A lot of people around here still think of it as organic fertilizer," she added.
Like many parts of the country, local water pollution is a growing concern in the Seattle area. When it rains, feces left on sidewalks or yards can wash into storm drains and ditches, which then flow untreated to the nearest lake, stream or wetland and ultimately wind up in the Puget Sound. Even in small doses, E. coli can get into the water system and cause significant trouble.
In addition to releasing nutrients into the water that can feed on algae and kill marine life, excrement contamination can also send unlucky beach-goers home with bouts of diarrhea or hives.
As performer Martin Luther sings in the video, "Hey yo, you don't want to swim in poo."
The Washington State Department of Ecology has studied the local sources of pollutants and linked higher counts of fecal coliform -- an indicator for the potential presence of harmful pathogens -- to residential compared to commercial areas. "This spells out dogs," Geer told HuffPost.
So what can be done to protect the public from parasitic poop, and help them to enjoy only thehealth benefits of pet ownership?
Some communities are enlisting high-tech solutions such as DNA testing or video surveillance to track culprit dogs and their owners.
But Michael Brandow, author of "New York's Poop Scoop Law: Dogs, the Dirt, and Due Process," doesn't see these strategies catching on. Instead he suggested on Pet Life Radio that the answer is far more simple: peer pressure and the "policing of each other" that comes with increased awareness.
And this peer pressure can be of the active variety, as described by another HuffPost reader. "I've gotten into the habit of always carrying extra bags with me when I take my dogs out," wrote NatureNerd in a comment on July's story. "When I see someone not picking up after their dogs, I will walk up to them and say, 'Oh, did you forget a bag to pick up after your dog? That happens to me too. Here, have one of mine.' So far, has worked every time."
In addition to regularly cleaning up after their dog -- or hiring help to do the task -- pet owners should also make sure that they get their animal regularly checked for parasites, advised Dr. Beeler.
"They should follow any treatment protocols that their vet recommends," she said. "This helps protect people too."
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LIPA USA Reports, “3.6 billion pounds of dog waste/year is produced in the United States alone, equaling 800 football fields, one foot high. This is a hidden health issue that no one wants to "touch" as approximately 50 million registered dogs in the United States produces more than 5,000 tons of waste daily.” Read the full article here:
http://www.dogtoilet.com/pressrelease.htm
“A single gram of dog waste can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria” (Van Der Wel, B. 1995. Dog pollution. The Magazine of the Hydrological Society of South Australia 2(1).) Dogs can be a significant host of giardia and salmonella. (Lim and Olivieri, 1982). Further sourced from the University of Texas, 2001.
If interested in determining what some of your state’s pooper scooper laws may be, consider the following site. Professional pooper scooper services are also listed here:
http://www.pooper-scooper.com/statelaws.htm
“Caution: Pregnant, nursing, or immunosuppressed persons should use good cleanliness and safety practices when handling soiled litter or pet waste. Cat feces can transmit a disease called toxoplasmosis. Consult your physician for more information.”
http://www.worldsbestcatlitter.com
“In large cities around the world there is an even bigger problem. In recent years, fines for not picking up after a pet dog have ranged from $100 in New York to $600 in Paris and $750 in London. Among the concerns: sprains or broken bones resulting from citizens slipping on the remains on sidewalks.” Full article here:
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/02/03/14465491.shtml
Moe and Rick Schober of http://canismax.angelcities.com/index.htm muse, “If concern for others isn't enough to get you to pick up after your dog, think of the potential impact it could have on your wallet. Around the world, many cities and towns are now imposing stiff fines for "pooper scooper" law violations. Fines range anywhere from $50 per offense to as high as $750 in London. And it's not just dog owners who wind up paying; the city of Paris pays $8.4 million each year to lease 70 motorized pooper scoopers (known as "caninettes") to vacuum dog waste from its streets and sidewalks and the bill is passed along to its taxpayers. How long before your town starts charging its citizens to clean up after its irresponsible dog owners?” Read the full article here:
http://canismax.angelcities.com/health_doo.htm
View a funny picture with a serious message about dog poop here:
http://www.erasethewaste.com/ETW_DROPSOMETHING_WEB.pdf.
The advertisement states verbatim, ”Did You Drop Something? Dog poop. It’s a serious health problem. Why? Because it contains disease-carrying bacteria that can make people sick. And because there are 3 million dog owners in LA. Do the math. Then do this. Pick up after your pooch. Remind your neighbors to pick up after theirs. Good manners, great health policy. Want more tips? Call 1-888-CLEAN-LA today.”
Some of the possible ways a dog or cat can obtain various different parasities, viruses and stages of bacteria from their own poop include: rolling in their feces, pawing at it (contraction transdermally), and in rare instances even eating it-coprophagy (http://www.maltesemagic.homestead.com/S1.html). It doesn’t take a mental giant to see the correlation between contact with dog poop, as well as cat litter, and potential health compromises. Peteducation.com has authored an exceptional website where you can read about several of the “microbial monsters” that threaten animal & people alike including: Parvo Virus,Trichinosis, Whipworms, Hookworms, Roundworms, Giardia and Coccidia. Read about the Corona Virus here:
http://www.wilsonscockers.com/Corona.htm
“On his last count, he tallied 1,494 mounds [dog poop] in a one-mile stretch, compared with 708 in December 2000.” This is not only disgusting, but will without doubt catch up with us in time in the form of unexpected health related maladies and unexplained conditions. Read this incredibly “off the wall” article here:
http://www.freep.com/news/nw/drop30_20011130.htm
Each year, over 2 million tons of cat litter ends up in municipal solid waste landfills. Most of that litter, an estimated 100,000 truckloads per year, is made from non-biodegradable clay that never decomposes. (Judd Alexander, In Defense of Garbage, Praeger 1993).
How big is the storm water pollution problem?
The State Water Resources Control Board, a division of the California Environmental Protection Agency enumerates its prevalence. Read the full article here: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/erasethewaste/swpollution.html#effects. The following represents a concise synopsis of the study:
“With nearly 10 million people living in Los Angeles County, each resident's contribution to storm water pollution adds up quickly to create a serious public health situation. In a 1997 study conducted by Pelegrin Research Group, an estimate of the number of times per month that Los Angeles County residents engage in polluting activities was established, known as pollution volumetrics. According to an updated 2001 study, it s conservatively estimated that each month in LA County, residents contribute to storm water pollution by:
- Walking a dog without picking up the droppings more than 82,000 times
- Dropping cigarette butts on the ground nearly 915,000 times
- Dropping litter on the ground or out a car window more than 830,000 times
- Allowing paper or trash to blow into the street more than 800,000 times
- Throwing something in the gutter or down a storm drain nearly 280,000 times
- Emptying a car ashtray into the street more than 40,000 times
- Hosing leaves or dirt off a driveway or sidewalk into the street nearly 420,000 times
- Washing off paint brushes under an outdoor faucet more than 130,000 times
- Spraying the garden or lawn with pesticide more than 210,000 times
“Also, in Los Angeles County, approximately 100 million gallons of contaminated water and debris drain through the storm drain system each dry day. That would fill the Rose Bowl 1.2 times. (On rainy days the daily flow can increase to 10 billion gallons per day).”
The following illustrated link presents the very real concern that DOG POOP AND PET WASTE presents to human and canine health.
Pet tips for pooper scoopers taking care of their pets waste
Here are some tips on dog poop and its proper disposal to reduce storm water pollution in the Los Angeles and surrounding areas presented by The State Water Resources Control Board, a division of the California Environmental Protection Agency. Read the full article here:
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/erasethewaste/reduce.html
Pick up your pet's waste every single time. Animal waste contains disease-causing pathogens and harmful chemicals and nutrients, that when left on the ground, wash down storm drains and contaminate local waterways and beaches. There is a County ordinance, which bans dog owners from leaving animal waste on public or private property. If an owner disregards this law they may be fined.Throw away pet waste in the garbage; never wash it out into the street or into the storm drain.
Take advantage of the complimentary bags offered in dispensers at local parks. Use them to dispose of your pet's waste.
Ensure you always have extra bags in your car so you are prepared when you travel with your dog.
Carry extra bags when walking your dog and make them available to other pet owners who are without.
Teach children how to properly clean up after a pet. Encourage them to throw used bags in the nearest trash receptacle.
Put a friendly message on the bulletin board at the local dog park to remind pet owners to clean up after their dogs.
Tell friends and neighbors about the ill effects of animal waste on the environment. Encourage them to clean up after pets.
If possible, bathe your pets indoors, using less toxic shampoos, or have your pet professionally groomed. Runoff from pet shampoos and soaps can be toxic and contribute to storm water pollution.
10 reasons to be a pooper-scooper
For more information on pollution prevention, visit DCR's website (the source of this information):
http://www.dcr.state.va.us/
Courtesy of
www.dcr.state.va.us
- Stormwater carries pet waste and other pollutants directly into waterways.
- Animal waste adds nitrogen to the H2O. Excess N depletes the O2 in H20 necessary for beneficial underwater wildlife.
- Animal waste may contain harmful organisms that can be transmitted to humans & animals by contaminated H2O.
- Worms deposited by infected animals can live in soil for long periods and be transmitted to other animals & humans.
- It's the law! Many cities require picking up after pets. Cleaning up after your pet is always the right thing to do.
- A growing number of RESPONSIBLE pet owners may encourage hotels to accept pets when traveling.
- No one likes to step in pet waste and spread it into homes, cars and businesses.
- Scooping on a daily basis and applying lime will help prevent odors.
- It's easy to clean up by carrying plastic baggies and paper towels in your pocket. Later disposing of responsibly.
- Your neighbors will appreciate your good manners.
Matthew Osborn’s comments about dogs and poop
Here’s what Matthew Osborn says on page 65 of his popular book, The Professional Pooper Scooper: How to Start Your Own Low-cost, High Profit Dog Waste Removal Service. But fist, a little credit where credit is due. A man whose name has almost become synonymous with the term “pooper scooper”, Matthew Osborn has arguably contributed more time and effort to heighten public awareness for the dog waste removal industry than any other single person to date. Matthew Osborn was also the original founder of Pet Butler Dog Waste Removal Service. You may purchase his book at Pooperscooper.com.
Mr. Osborn states, “Discussing these health signs to be observed in dog stool might be disgusting, and of course it's certainly not suitable material for general conversation. But it is a vital importance to doing your best work for your customers.
Roundworms
“Look something like rubber bands in the dog waste. Of course, sometimes dogs actually do eat and subsequently eliminate rubber bands, so be sure to notice the difference. Look closely if you have to. If you find one or more roundworms in the dog's feces, whether the worms are still alive or dead, you will need to notify the animal’s owner. Sometimes a worm treatment will result in elimination of several dead roundworms but it's still a good idea to check with the dog-owner just to make sure that she knows what's happening.”
Tapeworms
“In dogs may sometimes be detected by observing segments of the worms or the parasites eggs, resembling grains of brown rice, in the dog waste. Especially warm weather, you will very frequently see small, white, fat, rice sized creatures in the waste you cleanup. These are not tapeworms eggs; they are the larvae of flies (maggots) that hatch from eggs laid in the waste after it is eliminated. Newly eliminated, live tapeworms segments can be white, fat, and wiggly. To tell them apart from maggots you can look closely in see that they are carrot-shaped.”
Blood in the Stool
“Can be an indication of a very serious health problem. If you find blood in a dog-as waste, notify the owner asap in order that a veterinarian may be consulted right away. Be sure to notice the color of the blood: red blood or dark, nearly black blood in the stool indicate problems in different parts of the digestive tract.” As noted, the reader can see that the author briefly discusses canine health as well.
DANGERS OF DOG POOPDANGEROUS DOG POOP?Author: Wiki Pets
Cleaning up after your dog can be a stinky job, but someone's gotta do it.. Constant clean up is necessary for a healthy environment for you and your family.
IS DOG POOP DANGEROUS??Love, food, and shelter were all things you actively agreed to providing for your new pet when you purchased or adopted them.
Sanitation and cleanup are also important facets of pet ownership that are critical to the health and well-being of your entire family.
Dog feces is as high as 3rd on the list of contributors to contaminated water. Cleaning up after your dog is one guarantee in the life of every pet owner. Left un-checked, your yard can quickly turn into a mine field of feces in a week or less. On average, dogs do a number two twice per day which adds up to about 14 piles of poo in just one week, per dog. Contrary to popular belief, dog feces is not fertilizer and does not provide any benefit to the soil.
SO WHATS IN IT?
Dog feces may contain parvovirus, whipworms, hookworms, roundworms, threadworms, campylobacteriosis, giardia, and coccidia. If left unattended, these parasites will contaminate the water, soil, and can even cause infection in both pets and humans (especially children). The microscopic Hookworm larvae can be passed to another pet or person directly through the skin or by accidental ingestion as can other bacteria.
WHICH PARASITES CAN HUMANS ACQUIRE?
Yes, humans are capable of contracting hookworms, tapeworms, threadworms and campylobacteriosis. This is the most significant reason to avoid allowing dogs (especially puppies) to like your face and mouth - affectionately known as "puppy kisses". If a dog has recently eaten feces or attempted to groom their hind quarters and come into contact with this infectious material, there is a chance the parasites will be passed directly into your mouth. Children are especially venerable to infection because they tend to enjoy playing in the dirt, where parasites such as hookworm larvae lay dormant waiting for a new host. Young children may also put dirty hands or toys in their mouth, further increasing the chance for infectious material consumption.
DISEASE PREVENTION
Pet feces can be catastrophic to the local water table, contaminating nearby ponds, lakes, rivers and drinking water. When feces is allowed to remain on the soil for long periods, rainstorms will begin to dilute and break apart the feces and slowly spread the bacteria on other contaminants into local water sources. If your yard happens to hold water for extended periods of time, the problem may be amplified.
To avoid potential infection, dog feces should be removed from the yard every 1 - 7 days, depending on the size of the dog and number of dogs in the household. Larger dogs will need more frequent cleanup, as will households with more than 1 dog. A family with one Pomeranian will have a much lower environmental impact than the family with 2 Great Danes.
If you are too busy to clean up after your dog, or the thought of it just makes you gag, there are many services available today, such as Pet Butler, that will gladly do the dirty work for you. A sanitation expert will locate and remove any feces found on premises 1 or more times per week usually from around $10.00. Some
areas do have legal statutes that regulate the cleanup and disposal of pet waste, so be sure to contact your local health board for more information.
It has been estimated that a single gram of dog waste can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria, which are known to cause cramps, diarrhea, intestinal illness, and serious kidney disorders in humans. EPA even estimates that two or three days’ worth of droppings from a population of about 100 dogs would contribute enough bacteria to temporarily close a bay, and all watershed areas within 20 miles of it, to swimming and shell fishing.
Cleaning up after your dog can be a stinky job, but someone's gotta do it.. Constant clean up is necessary for a healthy environment for you and your family.
IS DOG POOP DANGEROUS??Love, food, and shelter were all things you actively agreed to providing for your new pet when you purchased or adopted them.
Sanitation and cleanup are also important facets of pet ownership that are critical to the health and well-being of your entire family.
Dog feces is as high as 3rd on the list of contributors to contaminated water. Cleaning up after your dog is one guarantee in the life of every pet owner. Left un-checked, your yard can quickly turn into a mine field of feces in a week or less. On average, dogs do a number two twice per day which adds up to about 14 piles of poo in just one week, per dog. Contrary to popular belief, dog feces is not fertilizer and does not provide any benefit to the soil.
SO WHATS IN IT?
Dog feces may contain parvovirus, whipworms, hookworms, roundworms, threadworms, campylobacteriosis, giardia, and coccidia. If left unattended, these parasites will contaminate the water, soil, and can even cause infection in both pets and humans (especially children). The microscopic Hookworm larvae can be passed to another pet or person directly through the skin or by accidental ingestion as can other bacteria.
WHICH PARASITES CAN HUMANS ACQUIRE?
Yes, humans are capable of contracting hookworms, tapeworms, threadworms and campylobacteriosis. This is the most significant reason to avoid allowing dogs (especially puppies) to like your face and mouth - affectionately known as "puppy kisses". If a dog has recently eaten feces or attempted to groom their hind quarters and come into contact with this infectious material, there is a chance the parasites will be passed directly into your mouth. Children are especially venerable to infection because they tend to enjoy playing in the dirt, where parasites such as hookworm larvae lay dormant waiting for a new host. Young children may also put dirty hands or toys in their mouth, further increasing the chance for infectious material consumption.
DISEASE PREVENTION
Pet feces can be catastrophic to the local water table, contaminating nearby ponds, lakes, rivers and drinking water. When feces is allowed to remain on the soil for long periods, rainstorms will begin to dilute and break apart the feces and slowly spread the bacteria on other contaminants into local water sources. If your yard happens to hold water for extended periods of time, the problem may be amplified.
To avoid potential infection, dog feces should be removed from the yard every 1 - 7 days, depending on the size of the dog and number of dogs in the household. Larger dogs will need more frequent cleanup, as will households with more than 1 dog. A family with one Pomeranian will have a much lower environmental impact than the family with 2 Great Danes.
If you are too busy to clean up after your dog, or the thought of it just makes you gag, there are many services available today, such as Pet Butler, that will gladly do the dirty work for you. A sanitation expert will locate and remove any feces found on premises 1 or more times per week usually from around $10.00. Some
areas do have legal statutes that regulate the cleanup and disposal of pet waste, so be sure to contact your local health board for more information.
It has been estimated that a single gram of dog waste can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria, which are known to cause cramps, diarrhea, intestinal illness, and serious kidney disorders in humans. EPA even estimates that two or three days’ worth of droppings from a population of about 100 dogs would contribute enough bacteria to temporarily close a bay, and all watershed areas within 20 miles of it, to swimming and shell fishing.
Some of the following are online articles which have been reprinted here
The Poop Butler have reproduced a couple of articles originally printed in USA Today which serves up some pretty daunting numbers with respect to just how environmentally unsafe dog poop waste really is. My hat is off to Traci Watson for acknowledging the positive change and immediate impact my California pooper scooper colleague Craig Stern has contributed to wrangling the dog waste problem in Ca.
Dog Waste Poses Threat To Water
By Traci Watson, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2002-06-07-dog-usat.htm
June 6th, 2002
“For as long as the dog has been man's best friend, dog waste has posed a menace to man's nose and foot. Now science has revealed a more unsavory truth: It's an environmental pollutant.
In the mid-1990s, scientists perfected methods for tracking the origin of nasty bacteria in streams and seawater. From Clearwater, Fla., to Arlington, Va., to Boise the trail has led straight to the hunched-up dog - and to owners who don't pick up after their pets.
At some beaches, dogs help raise bacteria levels so high that visitors must stay out of the water. Goaded by such studies, some cities have directed as much as $10,000 in the last few years to encourage dog owners to clean up after their pets. A few municipalities have started issuing citations to those who ignore pet clean-up ordinances.
Many dog lovers are in denial about their pooches' leavings. But researchers have named the idea that areas used by dogs pump more bacteria into waterways - the "Fido hypothesis."
Dogs are only one of many fixtures of suburban America that add to water pollution. lawn fertilizers, rinse water from driveways and motor oil commonly end up in streams and lakes.
But unlike those sources, dogs generate disease-causing bacteria that can make people sick. Studies done in the last few years put dogs third or fourth on the list of contributors to bacteria in contaminated waters. "Dogs are one of our usual suspects," says Valerie Harwood, a microbiologist at the University of South Florida. "At certain sites, we find their effect to be significant."
It doesn't take a Ph.D. to figure out that dog do is nasty. But it took science to determine how nasty it is.
From mutt to blue-blooded champion, all dogs harbor so-called coliform bacteria, which live in the gut. The group includes E. Coli, a bacterium that can cause disease, and fecal coliform bacteria, which spread through feces. Dogs also carry salmonella and giardia. Environmental officials use measurements of some of these bacteria as barometers of how much fecal matter has contaminated a body of water.
This wouldn't matter if pet dogs were as rare as pet chinchillas. But four in 10 U.S. households include at least one dog, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. The association's statistics also show that Americans owned 54.6 million dogs in 1996 and 68 million dogs in 2000. Of that total, 45% were "large" dogs - 40 pounds or more.
Those numbers add up to a lot of kibble. That wouldn't matter if all dog owners also owned a pooper-scooper. But several studies have found that roughly 40% of Americans don't pick up their dogs' feces (women are more likely to do so than men).”
New analysis provides answers
“The environmental impact of dog waste went unrecognized for decades. Then scientists developed lab techniques to determine the origin of fecal bacteria contaminating water. One method is a variant of DNA fingerprinting. Another method looks at the antibiotic resistance of microbes from different species.
Scientists caution that the methods are still new. They are able to distinguish between major and minor sources of pollution, but they can't say with precision whether dogs contribute 20% or 30% of the pollution in a stream. "There's inherently some error," says Don Stoeckel, a microbiologist for the Ohio district of the U.S. Geological Survey who's studying bacteria-tracking methods. "I think the best (they) can do is give you some evidence of the magnitude of each source."
Nonetheless, Stoeckel says, the analytical tools do provide useful information. Researchers have studied dozens of waterways. Wild birds and humans usually head the roster of who's fouling the water. But in some areas, dogs make significant deposits.
At Morro Bay, Calif., for example, dogs contribute roughly 10% of the E. coli, says Christopher Kitts, a microbiologist at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo. "And that can be the difference between a beach closing and a beach not closing," he says.
Places where dogs dirty the water:
Stevenson Creek in Clearwater, Fla. Residents were worried that a sewage treatment plant contaminated the creek. But when Harwood tested the water, she found that dogs, along with leaky septic tanks and wild animals, were to blame for high bacteria counts. Dog feces probably washed out of yards by the creek, Harwood says.
Four Mile Run in Arlington and Fairfax counties, Va.
Studies show that dogs add to the contamination in this suburban Washington, D.C. stream. Officials calculate that the 12,000 dogs living in Four Mile Run's watershed leave more than 5,000 pounds of "solid waste" every day.
Boise River in Boise. The river suffers from high bacteria levels that make it unsuitable for swimming. Testing of streams and drainpipes flowing into the river showed that in urban areas, dogs were a leading culprit. In some spots, dogs and cats account for even more of the bacteria than human feces - from dysfunctional septic tanks and leaky sewage pipes - do.
Fines don't sway some
“Even where dogs aren't the prime offenders, they're one of the few polluters authorities have control over. At many California beaches, for example, seagulls and other birds are most responsible for high bacteria levels. But federal laws protect birds.
That leaves dogs. Officials know that they have a lot of educating to do before people realize their pooch can be a canine sewage pipe. Some people find it humiliating to carry a plastic bag.
A survey by the Center for Watershed Protection in 1999 found that of the 41% of respondents who rarely or never clean up after their dogs, 44% would refuse to do so in the face of fines and neighbors' complaints. Reasons included, "because it eventually goes away," "small dog, small waste," and "just because."
So more cities may follow the lead of Laguna Beach, Calif., a wealthy beach enclave. The city provides pooper-scoopers at the local dog park. But many people "don't take care of their little friends," says Victor Hillstead, the city's parks and buildings manager.
So the city hired Entre-Manure, poop-scooping service based in nearby Dana Point whose motto is "#1 in the #2 Business." Since the city's contract started in January, the service has collected 187 pounds of dog waste from the city. "I'm real proud of that fact," says Craig Stern, founder and chief picker-upper. "That's pollution that'll never reach the ocean." Learn about Craig Stern at: Entre-manure.com
Cities struggle with 'dog piles'. Where they're cracking down:
By Traci Watson, USA TODAY
San Diego. The city spent roughly $10,000 on extra trash cans, nagging signs and plastic "mutt mitts" at its Dog Beach, where the surf was closed to swimmers 125 times in 2000. The measures led to "measurably fewer dog piles. That's the term we use," says Ted Medina, deputy director for coastal parks. He estimates the beach is 30%-40% cleaner than it was before the effort started late last year.
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area near Atlanta. Bacteria levels in the river exceed standards so often that a Web site tells would-be boaters and swimmers whether the river is safe on any given day. To help clean it up, park officials recently started giving tickets to visitors who have dogs but no doggie bags.
Boulder, Colo. Here the problem wasn't dirty water but the nitrogen in dog droppings. Native grasses in the city's mountain parks are used to low-nitrogen conditions. But with dogs doing their business, weeds were muscling aside the grasses. The city did 10 months of education before starting to hand out $100 fines last year. Boulder officials had to convince residents that dog waste "is not fertilizer," says Mike Patton, co-director of open space and mountain parks. "Some people really did believe it was."
The Poop Butler have reproduced a couple of articles originally printed in USA Today which serves up some pretty daunting numbers with respect to just how environmentally unsafe dog poop waste really is. My hat is off to Traci Watson for acknowledging the positive change and immediate impact my California pooper scooper colleague Craig Stern has contributed to wrangling the dog waste problem in Ca.
Dog Waste Poses Threat To Water
By Traci Watson, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2002-06-07-dog-usat.htm
June 6th, 2002
“For as long as the dog has been man's best friend, dog waste has posed a menace to man's nose and foot. Now science has revealed a more unsavory truth: It's an environmental pollutant.
In the mid-1990s, scientists perfected methods for tracking the origin of nasty bacteria in streams and seawater. From Clearwater, Fla., to Arlington, Va., to Boise the trail has led straight to the hunched-up dog - and to owners who don't pick up after their pets.
At some beaches, dogs help raise bacteria levels so high that visitors must stay out of the water. Goaded by such studies, some cities have directed as much as $10,000 in the last few years to encourage dog owners to clean up after their pets. A few municipalities have started issuing citations to those who ignore pet clean-up ordinances.
Many dog lovers are in denial about their pooches' leavings. But researchers have named the idea that areas used by dogs pump more bacteria into waterways - the "Fido hypothesis."
Dogs are only one of many fixtures of suburban America that add to water pollution. lawn fertilizers, rinse water from driveways and motor oil commonly end up in streams and lakes.
But unlike those sources, dogs generate disease-causing bacteria that can make people sick. Studies done in the last few years put dogs third or fourth on the list of contributors to bacteria in contaminated waters. "Dogs are one of our usual suspects," says Valerie Harwood, a microbiologist at the University of South Florida. "At certain sites, we find their effect to be significant."
It doesn't take a Ph.D. to figure out that dog do is nasty. But it took science to determine how nasty it is.
From mutt to blue-blooded champion, all dogs harbor so-called coliform bacteria, which live in the gut. The group includes E. Coli, a bacterium that can cause disease, and fecal coliform bacteria, which spread through feces. Dogs also carry salmonella and giardia. Environmental officials use measurements of some of these bacteria as barometers of how much fecal matter has contaminated a body of water.
This wouldn't matter if pet dogs were as rare as pet chinchillas. But four in 10 U.S. households include at least one dog, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. The association's statistics also show that Americans owned 54.6 million dogs in 1996 and 68 million dogs in 2000. Of that total, 45% were "large" dogs - 40 pounds or more.
Those numbers add up to a lot of kibble. That wouldn't matter if all dog owners also owned a pooper-scooper. But several studies have found that roughly 40% of Americans don't pick up their dogs' feces (women are more likely to do so than men).”
New analysis provides answers
“The environmental impact of dog waste went unrecognized for decades. Then scientists developed lab techniques to determine the origin of fecal bacteria contaminating water. One method is a variant of DNA fingerprinting. Another method looks at the antibiotic resistance of microbes from different species.
Scientists caution that the methods are still new. They are able to distinguish between major and minor sources of pollution, but they can't say with precision whether dogs contribute 20% or 30% of the pollution in a stream. "There's inherently some error," says Don Stoeckel, a microbiologist for the Ohio district of the U.S. Geological Survey who's studying bacteria-tracking methods. "I think the best (they) can do is give you some evidence of the magnitude of each source."
Nonetheless, Stoeckel says, the analytical tools do provide useful information. Researchers have studied dozens of waterways. Wild birds and humans usually head the roster of who's fouling the water. But in some areas, dogs make significant deposits.
At Morro Bay, Calif., for example, dogs contribute roughly 10% of the E. coli, says Christopher Kitts, a microbiologist at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo. "And that can be the difference between a beach closing and a beach not closing," he says.
Places where dogs dirty the water:
Stevenson Creek in Clearwater, Fla. Residents were worried that a sewage treatment plant contaminated the creek. But when Harwood tested the water, she found that dogs, along with leaky septic tanks and wild animals, were to blame for high bacteria counts. Dog feces probably washed out of yards by the creek, Harwood says.
Four Mile Run in Arlington and Fairfax counties, Va.
Studies show that dogs add to the contamination in this suburban Washington, D.C. stream. Officials calculate that the 12,000 dogs living in Four Mile Run's watershed leave more than 5,000 pounds of "solid waste" every day.
Boise River in Boise. The river suffers from high bacteria levels that make it unsuitable for swimming. Testing of streams and drainpipes flowing into the river showed that in urban areas, dogs were a leading culprit. In some spots, dogs and cats account for even more of the bacteria than human feces - from dysfunctional septic tanks and leaky sewage pipes - do.
Fines don't sway some
“Even where dogs aren't the prime offenders, they're one of the few polluters authorities have control over. At many California beaches, for example, seagulls and other birds are most responsible for high bacteria levels. But federal laws protect birds.
That leaves dogs. Officials know that they have a lot of educating to do before people realize their pooch can be a canine sewage pipe. Some people find it humiliating to carry a plastic bag.
A survey by the Center for Watershed Protection in 1999 found that of the 41% of respondents who rarely or never clean up after their dogs, 44% would refuse to do so in the face of fines and neighbors' complaints. Reasons included, "because it eventually goes away," "small dog, small waste," and "just because."
So more cities may follow the lead of Laguna Beach, Calif., a wealthy beach enclave. The city provides pooper-scoopers at the local dog park. But many people "don't take care of their little friends," says Victor Hillstead, the city's parks and buildings manager.
So the city hired Entre-Manure, poop-scooping service based in nearby Dana Point whose motto is "#1 in the #2 Business." Since the city's contract started in January, the service has collected 187 pounds of dog waste from the city. "I'm real proud of that fact," says Craig Stern, founder and chief picker-upper. "That's pollution that'll never reach the ocean." Learn about Craig Stern at: Entre-manure.com
Cities struggle with 'dog piles'. Where they're cracking down:
By Traci Watson, USA TODAY
San Diego. The city spent roughly $10,000 on extra trash cans, nagging signs and plastic "mutt mitts" at its Dog Beach, where the surf was closed to swimmers 125 times in 2000. The measures led to "measurably fewer dog piles. That's the term we use," says Ted Medina, deputy director for coastal parks. He estimates the beach is 30%-40% cleaner than it was before the effort started late last year.
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area near Atlanta. Bacteria levels in the river exceed standards so often that a Web site tells would-be boaters and swimmers whether the river is safe on any given day. To help clean it up, park officials recently started giving tickets to visitors who have dogs but no doggie bags.
Boulder, Colo. Here the problem wasn't dirty water but the nitrogen in dog droppings. Native grasses in the city's mountain parks are used to low-nitrogen conditions. But with dogs doing their business, weeds were muscling aside the grasses. The city did 10 months of education before starting to hand out $100 fines last year. Boulder officials had to convince residents that dog waste "is not fertilizer," says Mike Patton, co-director of open space and mountain parks. "Some people really did believe it was."