Waste Facts
- Dog waste is not fertilizer for your lawn. In its raw form, it can be toxic to your soil. Dog waste must be safely composted in an enclosed system before it can be considered a beneficial aid to the environment.
- Just one gram of dog waste can contain as many as 23 million Fecal Coliform bacteria. Waste can seep into groundwater and spread salmonella and giardia. This poses a hazard to your pets, family, and landscape.
- Your lawn mower doesn't help; it can make it worse. Mowers can chop the waste into smaller pieces and spread it further throughout your yard, where you, your children, and your pets continue to step in it and bring it into your home.
- Dog fecal matter is a major contributor to stormwater pollution. One out of three households have at least one dog, and all that dog poop left out can be blown into storm drains which lead to our waterways. When in water, the liquified waste consumes oxygen and releases ammonia, contaminating our water resources and contributing to algal blooms. This makes it harmful to fish and other aquatic life and potentially to humans.
- If you don't pick it up, it piles up...fast. The average dog discards approximately three-quarters of a pound of waste per day, up to 275 pounds per year. Your yard may be more polluted than you think!
- The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirms that hookworms, ringworms, tapeworms, and Salmonella can be spread with infected dog waste. It can take over a year for dog waste to decay. Still, even when it has visibly disappeared, the parasite eggs it contains can linger on for years in your soil - leaving your family and your pets vulnerable to serious infection.