Pets & Animals >
Dogs (Other)
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedAre "pooper scooper" laws fair to pet owners?
Results so far:
| Yes | 89% | 1372 votes | Total: 1533 votes | |
| No | 11% | 161 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesMany believe that dogs defecating in nature are just that, natural. While it is natural, the fallout from piles left behind by owners can become so much more. There are multiple reasons why laws requiring the pet owners to remove wastes behind their pet exist. Many pet owners may be unaware of these reasons.
The following information is to help owners make responsible decisions to clean up behind their pets and to avoid areas where irresponsible pet owners have not cleaned up and shows the fairness is the requirement to clean up behind your pet.
WORMS - Health issues such as worms from infested pets are one of the primary reasons for the law. Roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms are several of the varieties that are shed through dogs' feces and can live in the environment contaminating the soil and promoting the infestation of other dogs and even humans.
PARVO VIRUS - Dogs can be a carrier of this devastating disease without ever showing the symptoms of it. If they are carriers, they can shed the virus in their feces. This virus can live up to 9 months or longer in the soil surviving a wide range of environmental temperatures (from summer to winter). The virus can be spread by simply walking through, touching, dogs sniffing, or even car tires driving through a contaminated area.
Remember, even though you may have your pet fully vaccinated, that does not mean your precious pet isn't a carrier. This is a devastating disease that attacks the lining of the digestive tract causing dogs and puppies to be unable to absorb the nutrients and fluids necessary to survive. In extreme cases, parvo may spread to the heart resulting in congestive heart failure. Incubation time for the disease is 7-10 days. The best disinfectant for this disease is a chlorine bleach mixture of 1:30 (4 ounces of bleach in 1 gallon of water).
Piles of feces attract dogs. Just by the mere act of a dog sniffing the feces of an infected dog or a carrier dog is adequate to spread this disease.
INSECTS - Summer months can also bring additional problems from feces that remain uncollected by pet owners. Insects will be attracted to the fecal material. Flies and other insects will gather and multiply in areas where fecal material has been left. With these insects arrive more disease potential.
WATERWAY CONTAMINATION - There are additional health risks from uncollected wastes. When feces are left uncollected near waterways, particularly waterways where people may swim or where water may be used for irrigation of plants for human consumption, harmful bacteria levels can be increased by pet solid wastes left in the areas surrounding the water. Rains can wash the dissolved matter into the water.
In addition to all of this startling information, dogs can contribute E. coli contaminants that, if allowed to enter bodies of water, can result if the closing of those waters for recreational use.
Besides the aesthetically pleasing aspect of not having feces along our cities' walkways, it is much safer for you, your dog, the public, and the pets of others not to have this waste left around.
Be a good pet owner and collect the wastes your pet leaves behind. It may not be the glamorous aspect of pet ownership, but it is the responsible pet owner that does it.
Learn more about this author, B. L. Babb.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
Has anyone read the book "Everyone Poops"?
It's a fact, we all do. Ants, bees, birds, fish, humans, dogs, cats, horses and mice all poop.
Where do the mounds of menacing dog poop accumulate that suggests the downfall of humanity? Our own effluence is greater by far and more toxic. Your dog, like mine, probably eats a staple diet of kibble and bits far more consistent than the garbage we throw down our own guts for nourishment.
My dog craps in the rain ditches around the neighborhood when we walk; I taught him to do so. If you ever saw the other garbage that flows through you might hope he and others were the sole contributors. Something about dog poop that is never mentioned is a flock of flies will appear from nowhere to lay eggs in it. It dries to nothing in the summer sun and rain will wash it into the earth instantly whether fresh or dried.
My neighborhood is mostly 1/2 acre lot yards and so few people walk their yards they could be designated dog poop areas. I walk mine frequently. Most of my neighbors only see theirs from the seat of their lawn mowers.
My neighbor's dog comes across the street to poop on my front lawn. She is a huge Lhasa Apso so I rarely see poop.
I might be more understanding of the fact if a great Dane, German Shepard, or other large dog frequently laid large deposits on my front porch stoop but how often is that the case? It hasn't as of yet.
What is the real complaint about "dog poop"? If you own a dog you realize it is a fact of life. Ever changed a baby's diaper?
I think people with too much time on their hands need to find an outlet for that time other than complain about dog poop.
I have picked up my dog's poop if he dropped it within walking distance of my neighbor's front door. I would never pick up my dog's poop if out and about and he has even laid a nice one out near the Jefferson Memorial in DC. Big deal, have you ever seen what a goose can do?
What if you were out at a picnic and a bird on a branch in a tree overhead dropped a bomb on you? Who do you blame? What if you were on a hike and stepped in a pile of deer droppings - who takes the rap?
Never visit a dairy/beef farm or horse ranch. There is insidious poop everywhere waiting to reach out and grab you.
Realistically, some people need to involve themselves in other than dog poop in their tiny lives.
Will the Obamas have a federally paid dog poop scooper at the White House? Question such as these beg to be asked.
Learn more about this author, Kevin L'dux.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
