Cockapoo Token ($CPOO)- The Glaring Problems of Undisposed Dog Poop
Over the past couple of decades, dogs have been increasingly playing an important role in our everyday lives resulting in a social shift where society sees more dogs in the cities. There are 78 million dogs owned in the United States, meaning that almost 40% of the American population owns a dog. In France, about 40% of households own a dog, 41% of Canada, 33% in the U.K. and 20% in Germany. Over the last decade, we have seen the number of people owning a dog go up significantly. This would mean that there are a lot of dogs going using the streets as their bathroom. In Matthias Gross’ “Natural Waste: Canine Companions and the Lure of Inattentively Pooping in Public,” he stated that Every day some 55 tons of dog excrement are deposited on the streets of Berlin alone. In comparison, dogs in the U.S. are said to produce 10 million tons of poop each year.” Gross’ stat on dogs excrements in Berlin came from 2011, and seeing how the number of households owning one dog grew from 13% in 2010 to 20% in 2019; we can assume that the amount of dog excrements on the streets of Berlin has nearly doubled.
According to a self-report survey in the U.K., only 59% of dog owners clean up after their dog’s business. This is not a unique problem as in the United States, 40 per cent of people do not pic up their own dog’s waste. In March of 2012, The Guardian’s Rebecca Smithers wrote about how Dog poo wrapped in plastic bags has emerged as one of the most serious risks to beach visitors’ health and safety in the U.K. Data collected by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) have found that “dog excrement in bags left on U.K. beaches rose 11% between 2010 and 2011. Scotland recorded the biggest increase — 71% in one year.”
So why is it important to pick up dog poop?
There are two main reasons for this question: the first is because it creates bacteria, parasites, and viruses, making humans and animals ill; the second is because it is bad for the environment.
Bacteria, parasites, and viruses can all be found in dog pop, making individuals sick, especially children. This is known as zoonose, which is an infectious disease that animal transmit to humans. “Roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms are commonly known gastrointestinal parasites that shed eggs in dog faeces. Human activities such as gardening, walking barefoot in the yard, or playing sports increase the risk of encountering those parasite eggs and subsequent larvae.” Through contact with the soil, several diseases can be transmitted from dogs’ faeces onto humans, possibly being infected. If a child is playing outside in the sandbox then goes inside to have their lunch, “microscopic eggs can be consumed along with soil on the hands resulting in those diseases from dog poop.” This is not only a human problem but is hazardous to other dogs and wildlife. Dog faeces attracts rodents like mice and rats. Why is this a problem, you may ask? Mice and rats carry more than 35 different diseases such as Salmonella, Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCV), and Hymenolepid Tapeworms. They transmit more human diseases than any other living things, and not picking up dog waste brings unwanted diseases which is harmful to both humans and animals.
Here is a list from the Canadian Public Health Association of Human diseases transmitted by dog poop.
From bacteria
Campylobacteriosis
E. Coli
Salmonellosis
Yersiniosis
From parasites
Cyclospora
Cryptosporidium and Giardia
Roundworm
Tapeworms
Toxoplasmosis
https://www.cpha.ca/human-diseases-transmitted-dog-poop
Another reason why it is important to clean up after your dog is that it impacts our environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, dog faeces is ranked number three of non-point causes of pollution (meaning that it does not come from one identifiable source). That list includes other non-point source pollutants like herbicides and insecticides, toxic chemicals from motor vehicles, and even acid drainage from abandoned mines. “In Seattle waters, about 90% of harmful bacteria can be attributed more broadly to animals, and between 20% and 30% can be directly blamed on dogs.” When you leave pet waste on the ground, rain and snowmelt runoff transport it to neighbouring storm drains, where it is typically untreated before reaching our lakes, rivers, and streams. The contaminated water is then discharged into bodies of water such as lakes, streams, and rivers. This implies you could be swimming in faeces the next time you go swimming at your favourite spot. Pet excrement decomposes, using oxygen and potentially releasing ammonia. Nutrients and pathogens are two types of pollutants found in animal manure that affect local waters. When dog waste goes into the water, it decomposes, producing nutrients that create algae and weed growth. The pathogens (disease-causing bacteria) render local waters unsafe to swim and fish in and cause serious illnesses in humans. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Just two to three days of waste from 100 dogs can contribute enough bacteria, nitrogen and phosphorous to close 20 miles of a bay-watershed to swimming and shellfishing.” A dog excretes anywhere between 0.5 and 0.75 pounds of excrement every day and roughly contributes to twice as many coliform bacteria in one gram of dog excrement as there are in the same amount of human waste. In an article written by Susan Freinkel in 2014, she cited that “air samples in Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, Mich., found that 10 to 50 per cent of the bacteria came from dog poop.” There is a myth that dog poop is good fertilizer because cow manure “slowly releases nutrients into the soil that plants can easily absorb.” In reality, dog manure does the exact opposite effect due to their diets. Dogs diets consist of high protein, which causes their waste to be highly acidic. It can take up to a year for dog excrement to decompose completely.
Dog owners are responsible for picking up after their dogs. Dog poop can spread diseases while also polluting the environment. By picking up after ourselves, we can reduce our carbon footprint while also making our world a better, healthier, and safer place to live. By using biodegradable poop bags (made from corn starch, an annually renewable resource, and other bio-based proprietary components), “the bags will break down in about 90 days within an Industrial Composting facility — where the environment is controlled for optimal decomposition.” Dog faeces are gross and disgusting and an environmental and health problem that needs to be addressed to better our future.
Bibliography
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