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More than a nuisance
Dog waste is a recognized
pollutant that is unsightly, smelly, and
potentially contains disease-causing pathogens.
The U. S. pet population is now outpacing
the human population. According to a recent
survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers
Association, 63% of all American households
own pets - up from 56% in 1988. The American
Pet Association estimates that 78 million
dogs in the US produce 10.6 million tons
of waste per year. That's enough to cover
36,805 football fields with a foot of dog
waste!
What do you do with it?
Toilets and sanitary sewage
treatment have provided modern man with
a workable solution to human waste disposal.
But there is no effective, broadly-implemented
solution to eliminating the problem of dog
waste. At this point, dog owners, shelters,
kennels, breeders, pet shops, municipalities,
and pick-up services are left to their own
devices. Currently the most common ways
to disposel of this waste are tossing it
in the trash or leaving on the ground. Both
have negative consequences.
Landfills = waste in perpetuity
Sixty percent of the dog
waste in urban corridors is dumped into
garbage bins which are emptied into landfills.
The trash option usually involves plastic
bags which can take centuries to degrade
while the waste inside is mummified for
posterity. The landfills themselves are
disasters waiting to happen.
The Wisconsin Department
of Natural Resources states: "Current
landfill designs and practices do not
provide for degradation of landfilled
organic wastes within a defined and reasonable
timeframe. Undegraded organic wastes
can potentially cause future environmental
or economic impacts if the landfill gas
and leachate collection and containment
systems (cap and/or liner) fail at some
time in the future. Potential economic
burdens and environmental risks associated
with these undegraded wastes will be
largely borne by future generations."
According to the U. S.
Geological Survey, "
landfills
are designed to minimize contamination of
ground water, but modern landfills eventually
may leak contaminants into the environment."
Plus, landfills account for 34% of all methane
released in the U.S.
Across the country, landfills
are topping out, raising rates, and losing
favor as a solution for the 230 million
tons of solid waste generated in the U.
S. annually. Ecologically savvy communities
are looking for innovative ways to divert
waste from landfills.
Letting nature take its course
Roughly 40% of all dog
owners do not "stoop and scoop."
Don't kid yourself - dog waste does not
gracefully embrace the ecosystem. If left
intact, it can take more than a year to
break down. Until then it poses a health
threat to people and pets. Unlike wild animals
that actually help propagate forests with
their thinly deposited scat, domesticated
dogs leave waste behind in concentrated
areas and in proximity to human activity.
The resulting nuisance factors are obvious.
Dog waste can quickly turn
any outdoor area into a site unfit for humans.
In addition to the mess and smell it creates,
raw waste kills grass and other landscape
ornamentals. Dog waste dropped along trails
kills native plants and encourages noxious
weed infestation. Residual waste left at
ground zero runs off untreated into storm
sewers and waterways.
Recent studies indicate
that dogs are third or fourth on the list
of contributors to bacteria in contaminated
waters, increasing the potential for serious
diseases, including cholera and dysentery.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
estimates that two days worth of dog waste
from about 100 dogs can create enough pollution
to close a bay and all the watersheds within
20 miles. In addition to threats to humans,
bacteria that feed on dog waste deplete
oxygen, killing native aquatic life. The
bacteria also feed algae blooms which block
sunlight and suffocate fish.
Read more
How
Do Landfills Work?
Dog
Waste Poses Threat to Water, USA Today |