pooper scooper laws

Question
Early in the twentieth century flu killed more than 20 million people worldwide. The virus spread by human breath. It has been postulated that we are due for another flu epidemic of this type. These things happen at fairly regular intervals.

Since you are interested in public safety would you recomend, demand, that people wear masks whenever they step off their property because the viruses in their breath and on their hands can and have killed? Or is it okay to leave viruses on doorknobs that can kill because it isn't done on purpose and the viruses are not visible to the naked human eye?

My intention is to demand that a law be passed that all humans have to wear masks at all times because their germs and viruses could harm children just as the germs in dog feces could harm children. I think you'll agree that the threat of flu virus is much greater and after all, isn't it rude to leave dirty expelled breath in other people's yards when the solution is so simple? One only needs to wear a mask at all times. Surely we can all live with that.

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Followup To
Question -
More and more towns are establishing pooper scooper laws requiring dog owners to pick up their dog's droppings. Some people claim that dog doo doo is a health threat, but I have not been able to find any statistics indicating that there have been significant numbers of people sickened as the result of contact with diseases and parasites of this sort. Most people take their dog to the vet and get them dewormed regularly. Most children know enough not to play with dog droppings. So the laws have really been put in place by dog haters and gardening fanatics.

Do you have any info on numbers of people actually made ill by dog droppings in the USA or some other advanced nation?
Answer -
Hi Pete,

Where do you think dog feces go after your dog has eliminated them? Did you know that it can take up to a year for dog feces to disintegrate? Multiply that times the number of dogs in your area (possibly hundreds or thousands), and you can see a real problem in the sheer volume of fecal matter your community has to deal with. Even if it didn't cause disease (which it does) there's still the physical problem off all the droppings.

The statistics probably are not be anywhere near epidemic for the diseases caused by dog droppings. However, when you consider that disease caused by droppings is 100% preventable, and unbelievably inexpensive to enact there's no excuse for even a single person to get sick.

While I don't have figures as to the number of people infected by contact to dog droppings yearly, it's true that fecal matter of any species will cause disease.

While it's true that most children know not to touch dog droppings, if enough dogs frequent a neighborhood park, for example, the droppings can easily be worked into the ground and transferred to people. Young children are prone to picking up germs because they spend time crawling on the ground and putting their hands in their mouths, and don't wash their hands as frequently as adults.

Having answered these "expert" questions for over a year now, I would not agree with your statement that "most people take their dogs to the vet for deworming". Beleive me, answering these questions has been a real eye opener.
Aside from Heartworms which is caused by mosquitos, if a dog lives in clean conditions, one should not expect their dogs to have parasites.

Once in the environment, droppings can be carried by flies and other insects, wind and dust, or balls and toys that come into contact with the droppings. Think about that the next time a fly lands on your food!

Some of the diseases that can be transferred by dog droppings are:

Toxocariasis, a parasitic infection caused by roundworms. The infection usually doesn't cause symptoms in adults, although it can cause a variety of problems in children, including allergy-like signs and symptoms such as muscle pain, fever, abdominal pain, and hives. In rare cases toxocariasis can lead to partial blindness and swelling of the organs and central nervous system.

People can get roundworms from the fecal matter of dogs. Again, most often these are young children who eat dirt or sand in which roundworm eggs are found because of dog stool left on the soil.

Dog droppings can also cause bacterial and viral diseases and infections, such as Giardiasis, Hookworm and Salmonellosis.

Because dogs tend to go to the bathroom where other dogs have went, droppings can pass diseases and parasites to other dogs very easily. Picking up dog droppings keeps neighborhood dogs- including your own, healthy.

And of course, nobody wants to step in a pile of dog droppings... not even other dog lovers! It's just plain considerate to clean up after your dog.

I hope I've answered your question.

Regards,
Patti

Answer
"My intention is to demand that a law be passed that all humans have to wear masks at all times because their germs and viruses could harm children just as the germs in dog feces could harm children. I think you'll agree that the threat of flu virus is much greater and after all, isn't it rude to leave dirty expelled breath in other people's yards when the solution is so simple? One only needs to wear a mask at all times. Surely we can all live with that."

Good luck in your crusade for public health and welfare.