Dog Poop; it is unsightly and very unpleasant when stepped in. Read on to find some facts and figures of the impact of not cleaning up after your dog. We hope you enjoy walking your dog, but please remember to scoop the poop...
1. Dogs carry over 23 billion bacteria and parasites including salmonella and giardia. Giardia can live outside its host for considerable time so transmission is prolific. The symptoms include vomiting, bloating, diarrhea and stomach pain.
2. Pet feces left to wash into our water ways contain nutrients that encourage growth of algae. This can upset the natural balance effecting animals and fishes. It is estimated that pet poop is responsible for one quarter of the fecal contamination in our water ways. Remember that these very same water ways are where you get your drinking water from.
3. A single gram of pet feces contains in excess of 23 million fecal coliform bacteria, some of which can cause disease in humans and animals.
4. In Paris, France they have over seventy motorised scooper poopers called 'Caninettes' which are used to clean the streets and sidewalks at a cost of $8.4 million to the tax payers.
5. Flies like dog poop; and there is much undigested food in dog feces which gives flies an easy dinner, they then carry the unhealthy bacteria and can contaminate our food simply by landing on it. A fly is one of the biggest disease carriers in existence.
6. Many people have broken bones and strained limbs from treading and slipping on dog poop, this is a cost to society especially in the UK where the National Health Service (NHS) is paid purely by the tax payer.
7. Cat faeces can transmit a disease called toxoplasmosis. The symptoms of this in a healthy adult are similar to mild flu; however for anyone with a weakened immune system it makes them seriously ill and occasionally is fatal.
8. Dog fouling on beaches can dangerously affect the quality of water and cause many beaches to be closed for swimmers. The littering by dog fouling can impact on the water quality to the point where bathing in the water is not allowed because of the danger posed by the polluted water and high bacteria levels.
9. How much dog poop could there be left on the streets if no one picked up after their dog. Imagine a block of twenty houses with one dog per house. Every owner walks there dog within a 10 block radius. At two walks a day that equates to 14,600 poops per year. If we divide this by ten this will give us 1460 poops per block per year. Imagine how easy it would be to accidentally step in one of those poops and the effect on our water ways where much of this waste is washed into.
10. Tape worm is the most commonly transmitted disease from dog feces, it is estimated that much of this transmission for indoor kept animals occurs when dog waste is carried into the house on one of our shoes.
11. Children are the most susceptible to picking up illness from dog waste as they like playing on the ground and in the dirt and tend to put things in their mouths.
Our lovely pooch may be man's best friend but the mess they make when left can be a severe menace. Take responsibility for your dog and clean up after them, there is no excuse not to.
