Northwood News ♦ February 2016

The Scoop on Dog Poop

By Laura Hussey

We live in a neighborhood full of dog lovers (myself included) and, unfortunately, sometimes it shows ... in a not very pleasant way.  If your dog relieves himself when out for a walk in the neighborhood, it is your responsibility under Montgomery County law to pick up the feces and dispose of it in an appropriate receptacle.

There are lots of good reasons to perform poop-pickup.  The obvious one is that no one wants to step in dog poop, but here are some other reasons.  Did you know that:

• Dog waste contains high levels of nutrients that deplete levels of oxygen in our watershed, endangering fish and our beloved blue crabs.  And if you think your little dog doesn’t poop much, I’ll just leave it at think again.  Most dogs poop twice a day, so that little pile becomes 14 piles a week times 52 weeks a year.  That little pile becomes a pretty big pile of you-know-what!

• Dog waste also contains high levels of nutrients that attract other — ahem — undesirable animals, namely rats.  I’m a pretty fervent animal lover, but that is one animal I don’t love.  Enough said.

• Dogs can harbor dozens of diseases that are transmissible to humans, including through contact with an infected dog’s feces.  All of these zoonotic diseases are also transmissible to other dogs.  An infected dog does not have to exhibit any signs of illness to pass along a disease to a human or another dog, and picking up poop before another mammal comes into contact with it or parasites in the poop take up residence in the soil is the best way to prevent the spread of certain parasites.

• Children are especially vulnerable to acquiring infections from the soil, either because they play in the dirt or drop toys in it and then touch their hands to food or their faces.  Where do kids play?  The park.  Where do dogs get walked?  The park.

• Young dogs whose immune systems have not fully matured can (and often do) die when they contract parvovirus, a disease that is passed from dog to dog by contact with an infected dog’s feces.  An otherwise healthy adult dog with parvovirus may not seem very sick, and will almost certainly recover from the infection, but any young dogs who come in contact with their feces may not.  What a terrible gift to give a neighbor who is in love with their new puppy!

It goes without saying that you should be prepared when you take your dog for a walk:  carry plastic bags designed for picking up poop, or some other suitable bag.  What if you find yourself unprepared?  On a recent walk I found myself unprepared, but I spied a newspaper in a driveway.  I removed the newspaper and put it on the rightful owner’s porch (it was a dry day), and used the newspaper bag to pick up the poop and take it home.  I have also “borrowed” a bag from another dog walker; most dog walkers are happy to lend a bag.

Thanks for poop scooping, dog lovers!   ■