Dog Poop Math or C'mon People Scoop Your Poop!!

What a beautiful weekend….crisp fall air, trees changing colors…perfect dog walking weather. I’m pretty lucky with my doggy path to the park…no busy roads and a nice big boulevard so I don’t have to worry about squirrels leading my dogs into the path of cars doing 65 clicks in residential areas. Along this path to the park my dogs may not have to worry about cars, but their mom has one big thing to worry about…well actually one big thing and lots of them.
We’re talking about poop. Dog Bombs. Puppy Nuggets.
I walked my dogs 4 times over the weekend. 3 times while walking to the park I slipped in dog poop. You know the indescribable feeling…you’re walking along and then….you do a bit of a slide…not a normal slide…but a squishy all knowing slide. Normally you can avoid these mishaps buy scanning the territory, but with all the leaves on the ground it is a dog poop war zone.
Let’s do some dog poop math shall we?
I have 2 dogs. I walk them around the same 10 block area twice a day. 2 dogs pooping twice a day, every day. 365 days a year.
2 dogs x 2 poops/day x 365 days = 1460 poops with-in a 10 block radius. 1460 poops or 146 poops per block !!!

Every person on my short block of 20 houses has a dog. They all walk their dogs within the same 10 block radius. 20 houses = 20 dogs x 2 walks per day x 365 days = 14,600…for those of you numerically challenged…that’s 14thousand 6 hundred poops in a 10 block area…or 1460 poops per block. DO YOU HEAR ME PEOPLE.... ONE-THOUSAND FOUR-HUNDRED AND SIXTY POOPS PER 1/20TH OF A MILE OR 264 FEET!!!

I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. This information is from Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Beyond your grass, it has been estimated that a single gram of dog waste can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria, which are known to cause cramps, diarrhea, intestinal illness, and serious kidney disorders in humans. EPA even estimates that two or three days’ worth of droppings from a population of about 100 dogs would contribute enough bacteria to temporarily close a bay, and all watershed areas within 20 miles of it.
Dog feces are one of the most common carriers of the following diseases:

Tapeworm is the single most common infection transmitted by discarded dog poop. An estimated 35% of the indoor animals that contract tapeworm are thought to get it from infected poop brought into the home on the shoes of humans who have stepped in it.
Roundworm is transmitted to humans through infected animal poop. It can cause rash, fever, and a loss of vision.
Cryptosporidium causes diarrhea in dogs, cats, and humans. It can go undetected two out of the three times it has been contracted. You might have just blamed Taco Bell.
Salmonellosis causes fever, vomiting, diarrhea and headaches with devastating results in the young and elderly -- by, once again, simply walking through infected poop.
Giardia can live outside of the host for vast periods of time, which is why it easily and successfully spreads via infected poop.
E. Coli can lead to severe bleeding and even permanent kidney damage.
Oh…and don’t forget heartworms, whipworms, hookworms, parvo, corona and campylobacteriosis

When infected dog poop is deposited on your lawn, the eggs of certain roundworms and other parasites can linger in your soil for years. Anyone who comes into contact with that soil—be it through gardening, playing sports, walking barefoot or any other means—runs the risk of coming into contact with those eggs; especially your dog.
Some of the hard-to-pronounce parasites your lawn could harbor include Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Salmonella, as well as hookworms, ringworms and tapeworms. Infections from these bugs often cause fever, muscle aches, headache, vomiting, and diarrhea in humans.

Children are most susceptible, since they often play in the dirt and put things in their mouths or eyes.

When you leave poop on the sidewalk, it's eventually swept into the sewers -- not the same sewers through which human poop travels, but the storm sewers, which often discharge directly into the waterways without any treatment. Thus poop degrades water quality, leading to cloudiness and an increase of algae. (If you have an aquarium, you know this to be true.) Pet poop has been considered responsible for almost one fourth of the fecal contamination of the waterways -- those very same waterways from which you get your drinking water.
You throw a ball, you pick up a stick, your kid goes barefoot…even the simple task of walking your dog…..
I hate math…but I really hate Dog Poop math