Why You Should Always Scoop the Poop
There are a couple of important reasons that we should not leave poop on the ground, even in the deepest part of the woods. You may think that the poop will decompose and become a natural part of the environment, feeding the ground and plants around them. After all, bears poop in the forests and woods without a problem! However, bears eat from the same area, so when they defecate, they are depositing natural nutrients back into the environment.
Dogs eat commercially produced diets that include all the nutrients that they need for good health and happiness throughout their lives, but these nutrients are not part of the natural environment. There are higher amounts of certain nutrients, such as phosphorous, than what would be found in nature. So, when a dog poops in the woods and it is left there to “cook,” it deposits imbalanced amounts of nutrients into the ground, which can upset the overall natural environment.
Dog poop can also contain harmful bacteria that make humans ill when they come into contact with it in some way. People do not have to step in it to be exposed to the bacteria (there can be a large amount of it!) present in dog poop. The poop can easily end up in waterways where people fish, swim and even drink from. When dog poop gets in the waterways, it can overfeed invasive water weeds, algae, and moss, which upsets lake and stream environments.
By the way…
No matter how hard you try, pets will always leave you cleaning up smells, stains, vomit, hair, and everything in between. With the Hepper Advanced Bio-Enzyme Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator Spray, you can advance your clean-up routine!
It permanently removes the very worst pet stains and smells (and truly makes clean-up a breeze). Click here to learn more, order a bottle, and freshen up your home today.
At Pet Keen, we’ve admired Hepper for many years, and decided to take a controlling ownership interest so that we could benefit from the outstanding products of this cool cat company!
Is dog poop harmful to the environment?
Dog poop is more than just a gross and unsightly mess — it’s an environmental pollutant and a human health hazard. When left on the ground, waste eventually breaks down and washes into the water supply, polluting our rivers, streams, creeks and other local waterways.
Why Do We Have to Pick up Dog Poop?
When wild animals eat and poop in the woods, they are consuming food that comes from that environment. When it’s time to make a dookie, they’re then returning those resources and nutrients back to the same ecosystem.
Most dogs, however, eat dog food. Kibble is enriched with nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous, which can create an unstable ecosystem over time.
Consequences include algae blooms in lakes and rivers, which can lead to the growth of invasive weeds, which can affect native plant and fish species.
Moreover, just like human poop, dog poop contains bacteria and parasites. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a single gram of pet waste contains an average of 23 million fecal coliform bacteria. This bacteria can spread diseases, pollute soil, and contaminate the water we drink.
Now, consider this: Across the US, dogs produce 10.6 MILLION TONS of waste annually.
In 2018, Leave No Trace conducted a study on dog waste in Boulder, Colorado’s Open Space and Mountain Parks (OPMP). Of the 150 miles of public trails over 45,000 acres, 90% are open to dogs. An estimated 30 TONS of pet waste is left behind on those trails annually.
How To Dispose Of Dog Poop (+ how green is each option?!) – Dog Health Vet Advice
We’ve all been there. Your dog decides to take a royal poop in the middle of the trail and you are left to scramble around for the slightest sign of a poop bag. Oh. Crap.
Yep, you forgot it in the car. The wind blew the last one out of your hand. Now you are left with nothing but your sadness and no willpower to find a way to dispose of the poop. See this used to be me, but then I realized that dog poop does a lot more to our trails and wildlife than we think.
Dog poop is, in comparison to most litter, not the worst thing to leave on the side of the road. But it does leave an impact on the world around you, and not just on your dignity which tends to happen when you are poop bagless.