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.

     Maybe you can manage this unpleasant task; but, do you really have the time for this “crap?”  It is known that the average dog drops at least 2 – 3 piles of “doo” a day.  So, for people with lives to enjoy and way more exciting things to do, this could mean picking up over 20 doo piles a week, or 80 in a month.  Again this is just for 1 dog.  We aren’t claiming to be mathematicians, but those figures can easily multiply if you have several dogs.   Needless to say, the handling of your pet’s waste can be a very unpleasant task and a physically cumbersome “doody” for you and your family.  The fact is, approximately 5000 tons (that’s 10,000,000 pounds) of pet waste is deposited everyday in the US.  At the end of the day, who wants to help lift this stinky load?  Unfortunately, it has to be done because the accumulation of dog waste can pose dangerous health risks.  


    Dog waste always increases the presence of flies and other pests like fleas and ticks that aid in the transmission of certain diseases.  Case in point:  Flies will sometimes consume feces and/or lay eggs in it.  These are possibly the same flies that can come into your home, pause on you countertops and food, and thereby spread diseases.

   
   Storm water can carry dog waste directly into waterways, where it can contaminate drinking water and disrupt the underground wildlife ecosystem.  How?  Not only does dog waste add harmful bacteria to the water system (as if that’s not enough), it can also add organic matter such as nitrogen to the water system.  When dog waste decays in the water system, this decaying process (of the organic matter in the feces) depletes the level of oxygen in the water.  And as nature has it, that oxygen happens to be essential for healthy underwater grasses, wildlife, and fish.

    The bottom line is, if you let dog waste accumulate on your property it will:

-Create offensive odors and harmful bacteria growth
-Attract disease-carrying pest (like flies, fleas, and ticks)
-Endanger the health of your family and your pets
-Eventually offend neighbors and visitors
-Pollute the ground water, and
-Ruin the appearance of your property