• Roundworms (spread to humans from dog waste)

• Toxocariasis

• Hookworms

• Tapeworms

• Groundwater Pollution

• The Clean Water Campaign's Pet Waste Fact Sheet for Atlanta

• USA Today Reports: "Dog waste poses threat to water"

• Parasites / Flies / Pests

• Your dog deserves a clean yard, too

 

• PEOPLE WHO WOULD RATHER SPEND THEIR TIME ENJOYING THEIR PET, AND LEAVING THE DIRTY WORK®  TO US!

• Parents with small children, especially those who enjoy playing outdoors in their own, or a neighbor or friends, yard. 

• Those with physical or visual impairments, bad backs or arthritis

• Those concerned about stormwater and other environmental pollution 

• Dog owners busy with work and family 

Although many people first think of the aesthetic reasons to scoop dog waste, there in fact are many health and environmental reasons to remove and properly dispose of dog feces.  Many dog owners and lovers have no idea that they are spreading disease and pollution. 

Roundworm, hookworm and other parasitic worms may be transmitted to young children who play in their yard/dirt, or adults, that come into contact with dog feces.  Hookworms may be transmitted from contaminated soil and/or infected feces, to people walking barefoot. ["If humans come into contact with larvae of the dog hookworm or the cat hookworm, or of certain other hookworms that do not infect humans, the larvae may penetrate the skin. However, the larvae are unable to complete their migratory cycle. Instead they move just below the skin producing snake-like markings. This is referred to as a creeping eruption or cutaneous larva migrans. 

Ancylostoma canium, an illness caused by a particular species of dog hookworm, has recently been described. This worm may almost complete its development in the lower small intestine, but produces a severe inflammatory reaction in the bowel, causing abdominal pain, diarrhea, and a type of blood disease called peripheral blood eosinophilia."] (2)

A 1997 segmentation research study conducted for the county of Los Angeles discovered that more than 125,000 county dog owners regularly walked their dogs and left the waste laying on the ground.  (The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works subsequently joined the American Humane Society in May of 1998 to implement dog waste pickup and removal as part of its "Be Kind to Animals Week.")

Animal waste, most especially that of dogs and horses, is one contributor to "Stormwater Pollution, and contains disease-carrying bacteria and toxic chemical nutrients that can increase the risk of viral infections, flu, and skin rashes for ocean swimmers near storm drain outfalls." More than 10 million gallons of water containing these contaminants flow into neighborhood storm drains every day - even more when it rains. (1)

(1) The research study noted in the first paragraph is the "Los Angeles County Stormwater Segmentation Study -- Residents Population," conducted in May, 1997 by Pelegrim Research Group on behalf of the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works.  The statement in the second paragraph relating to the risk of viral infections, flu and skin rashes is found in, "Actions for Bay Restoration," a 1996 report by the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project.

(2) http://www.mediconsult.com - as reported: NIAID, a component of the National Institutes of Health, supports research on AIDS, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases as well as allergies and immunology.
Prepared by:
Office of Communications
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892
Public Health Service
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
October 1995