Mar 172018
There are many benefits to owning a dog but there are also some drawbacks. One of them is that owners – or dog walkers – are responsible for picking up their dog’s waste. It’s not the most pleasant task but it’s an extremely important one… for several reasons:
- Dog waste can take months or even years to break down; one gram of dog waste contains 23 million fecal bacteria!
- Dog waste is not like cow manure. It does not serve as fertilizer.
- Dog waste is not broken down when it rains and the dangerous bacteria are not washed away.
- The toxins from dog waste can seep into the soil; the EPA warns that dog waste is as harmful to our environment as chemical and oil spills.
If health and environmental reasons aren’t persuasive enough, then how about these reasons:
- Dog poop ain’t pretty!
Our neighborhood is beautiful and we want to keep it that way. So please respect the care and attention homeowners have for their yards and pick up Rover’s waste. (And if your dog kicks gravel onto the sidewalk, then please kick the gravel back into the yard.) - Don’t set boobytraps for pedestrians.
No one wants that on their shoes!
Tip: always carry an extra bag to collect your dog’s waste. Not all surprises are good ones!