This month the owners of Sgt Poopers joined up with Gary Spence and Tom Heath of For the Love of the Lake in the name of water quality management. For the Love of the Lake is a volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of White Rock Lake Park as an urban oasis. Managing water quality is an important aspect of their mission so key members learned how to conduct water tests in 2005. Every month, volunteers test at seven locations upstream and downstream from White Rock. Reports are sent to the City of Dallas and onward to the Texas Stream Team.

As a leading cause of water pollution, dog waste is a major threat to water quality. Dog waste contains nothing beneficial to plants or the environment – it is sheer biohazard, i.e., billions of bacteria, germs, pathogens, viruses and parasites. Rain and sprinkler systems wash dog waste from yards into storm drains that empty directly into our creeks, rivers and lakes.

In our area of Texas, some 1.2 million dogs deposit 900,000 pounds of waste daily in on the land. Only a fraction is actually picked up and disposed of properly. The vast majority winds up in the creeks, lakes polluting the very source of drinking water.

Testing water quality is a complex procedure involving some seven separate tests, including water turbidity, acidity, conductivity, oxygen content, temperature and more. Each test is performed twice to ensure precise results.

We tested just north of the intersection of Skillman and Abrams where White Rock Creek is joined by Village Creek – two of nine tributaries that feed the lake. White Rock Creek stretches some 30 miles through North Dallas, Richardson, Plano and into Frisco. Water flowing over White Rock’s spillway travels another eight miles south before it joins the Elm Fork of the Trinity River.

On the day we tested, it was just beginning to rain. We had to work quickly before the rain altered our test results. Testing water quality is where the consequences of environmental impropriety really become real. “The” water becomes “our” water.

At Sgt. Poopers we take the responsibility for animals and the environment seriously. Our mission is not just to keep lawns free from pet waste, but also to raise community awareness so that humans take full responsibility for animals and the environment we all share.

By keeping Dallas area yards clean and pet-waste free, Sgt. Poopers helps people and animals lead healthier, happier lives. And, we donate a percentage of our proceeds to animal rescue organizations to help less fortunate animals. For example, this hurricane season, Sgt. Poopers donated to the disaster relief funds of the Humane Society of the United States (“HSUS”) and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (“ASPCA”).

Sometimes when we see a story on the news about an abused animal, see a poster for a lost dog or cat, or hear about suffering caused by hurricanes and other natural disasters, we might think, “Oh, that’s sad, but I can’t do anything about it.”

The good news is, you CAN do something about it! Just like each one of us can do something to reduce our carbon footprint on the earth by taking simple steps such as cleaning up after our animals (or letting us do it for you!).

A great way to help is to volunteer at your local shelter or rescue group. Another fantastic way to help is to donate any amount you can spare to local and national rescue organizations. Believe it or not, every single dollar does make a difference in the lives of animals. Another, simple yet powerful way you can help is to take the ASPCA’s Pledge to Fight Animal Cruelty—just click the link below. If people work together, each of us does not shoulder the burden of animal welfare alone—we are empowered by others to do great things.

Sgt. Poopers took the pledge. Join us now and take the pledge yourself to fight animal cruelty and make the world a better place not just for us, but for the animals that depend on us!

I haven’t walked throughout Highland Park, but one neighborhood I know of really needs help. 

Highland Park is the 3rd wealthiest location in Texas per capita income. This pristine gem of a town has some of Dallas' most beautiful real estate, best schools… and filthiest sidewalks. If you go for a walk on parts of Beverly, Princeton or Sewanee for example, you better burn your shoes. The side walks are decorated with dog poop. What's up with that?

The problem isn’t "everyone." The real problem is misinformation on the subject of dog waste management. The bottom line: If you let your dogs poop on the sidewalk, guess what? Fecal organisms spread across the surface and then hitch a ride into your home on the soles of your shoes. That’s not personal opinion, but cold hard science.

My question for residents of Highland Park is, do we really want “filthiest sidewalks and most germ ridden home flooring” on the list of Highland Park attributes?

Here are the facts: A study released in April 2008 by Dr. Charles Gerba, microbiologist and professor at the University of Arizona investigated the role of shoes in the movement of bacteria from contaminated floor spaces to other surfaces. They found that when we walk upon a surface contaminated by fecal matter from dogs, bacteria adhere readily to shoes and hitch a ride into our homes.

Shockingly, they found that up to 99% of the bacteria traveled safely onto clean tile and carpets of kitchens, bedrooms and living areas. And if it's on the floor, it's on your feet and in your bed. Moreover, it’s on the hands and feet of any children in your home. Fact. Not fiction.

One gram of dog waste contains more than 20 million germs, bacteria, viruses, pathogens and parasites. And these disease agents remain alive and viable on the ground for years. Round worm eggs can remain viable for up to 3 years and maybe more.

In the University of Arizona study scientists gave volunteers a pair of clean new shoes and asked them to wear them for 2 weeks. At the end of that time, the shoes were taken to the lab for analysis. They found an average of 421,000 live bacteria on shoe soles. 27% was deadly E. Coli bacteria indicating frequent contact with fecal matter. Also detected was Klebsiella pneumonia, which can cause pneumonia and wound and bloodstream infections and Serratia ficaria, which can lead to infection of the respiratory tract. And as to the source, taking a walk on a poop-decorated sidewalk in Highland Park would do the trick.

Dr. Charles Gerba knows what he’s talking about. As a professor in the Departments of Soil, Water and Environmental Science (College of Agriculture), and Epidemiology and Biostatistics (College of Public Health) at the University of Arizona he knows germs. He obtained his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Miami, Florida and was a faculty member in the Department of Virology and Epidemiology at Baylor College of Medicine from 1974 to 1981. In short, Chuck Gerba is the real deal.

Yeah, who knew? To emphasize, this is new information that nobody understood. It takes time for people to find out about things. And cultures in general take quite some time to change their filthy old ways.  That is called “culture lag.”

To wit, have you ever heard the strange and tragic story of Hungarian physician Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis? Semmelweis is known today as a pioneer of antiseptic medicine and the “savior of mothers.” In 1847, he found that the cause of Puerperal fever (or Childbed fever) was lack of cleanliness. In hospital maternity wards in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds, the mortality rate for young mothers soared as high as 25%.

Semmelweis discovered the cure: forcing doctors to wash their hands. As a result, he was not only ignored, criticized and ridiculed, but dismissed from his position as director of Vienna’s largest maternity hospital. 14 years later he began speaking out in open letters, going so far as to tell his fellow doctors that by refusing to wash their hands, they were in fact committing murder. For all his trouble, Semmelweis was incarcerated in a mental asylum and murdered by guards.

Years after his death, the medical community finally discovered “oops, he was right” and by simply washing their hands saved thousands of innocent young lives. Today, Semmelweis’s portrait graces postage stamps and gold coins.

If it took society decades to accept the fact that doctors can save lives simply by washing their hands, it is likely to take time before some pet owners realize they are putting the health of neighbors, children and pets at risk by leaving dog waste on the ground.

Here’s the happy-ending part: If some residents of Highland Park don't want to clean up their act, Sgt Poopers will be happy to do the job. Our customers include residential, commercial and home-owner associations.

The moral of our story: Dog waste is a biohazard and a pollutant. If you don’t pick it up, your shoes will.

Starting a poop scooping business wasn't my idea. It was Erica's. Immediately however I thought it was a good idea. For her. And, as the owner of a successful Dallas web design and advertising firm (I created this website) I was quick to volunteer my services to help her get up and running. Of course I never dreamed I was also signing on to scoop my share of dog poop.

I thought as a business it made a lot of sense. Who wants to scoop dog poop when they can just hire someone else to do it at low cost? Who mows their own lawn these days? I've been an advertising artist and writer all my life so my part seemed like fun.

But slowly, like the stroke of midnight when Cinderella would turn back into a pumpkin... whatever, the day was coming when I'd have to go out and help scoop. My first day was the worst. I hoped no one would see me. The truth of it is, I had never before picked up dog poop in my life. On daily walks with our own dog... er, huh... I left that job to Erica. I know now I was a bad daddy dog.

It was not just an issue of disgust. It was status. Me? Picking up dog poop? For a few minutes there, I hit rock bottom. I wore sun glasses so no one would recognize me.

My first day was the worst. The dogs jumped on me. I had trouble focusing on the grass. Like an optical illusion, if you stare at grass long enough, you get disoriented. Instead of both eyes looking at the same blade of grass, one eye starts to drift left and the other starts looking over there, and I swear, you can step right into the poop you're supposed to be picking up.

I thought, "This is harder than I thought." Then after 5 minutes or so came the real insult. "How many poops have you got?" Erica asked. She had been doing another part of the yard. "Maybe three" I said. "How about you?"

"Seventeen."

Yeah, disturbing. I know. I can't print what I really thought because children might read this website one day. Look. I don't care how high your IQ is. IQ tests are hard. Stupid tests are easy. There are easy tests for stupid. And I was passing with flying colors.

"What? I'm supposed to count too?"

Cheerfully, she answered, "Yes, or how will you know for sure if you got them all? Two dogs times two poops a day for a week equals 28 poops total... At least." The grass blades were waving and I couldn't focus. Call it what you will... like "snow blind" or "white out" -- "grass blind" or "grass out." I kept losing count. It was hot.

With renewed intention, I got my count up to 9. And suddenly, we were done. With distinct relief, we went out in front to disinfect shoes and tools. Erica double bagged the poop and actually I never even got my hands dirty. As we drove away, I reflected on the ordeal. I was glad there were no witnesses.

But I was also glad I did something to help make Dallas a better place in which to live.