The problem is the bacteria and viruses contained in dog waste. These bugs can generate disease in humans, pets and other animals. Human illnesses caused by the ingestion of fecal coliform include dysentery, hepatitis, typhoid fever and ear infections. And in no small way, your pet's health may also be at risk by coming into contact with dog waste on the ground. Pet waste also contains excessive nutrients that encourage weed and algae growth in lakes and streams.

Hidden City

Hidden in the midst of North Central Texas is a city with a population of 1.2 million. It’s as large as the city of Dallas itself, but without a single flushing toilet. That’s right: a metropolis equivalent to the 9th largest city in the United States but completely devoid of any sewage system. Unfortunately, the story is not fiction. The catch: all its inhabitants walk on four legs: dogs. And every day they add some 900,000 pounds of solid waste that directly contaminates ground water and washes — untreated — into our local rivers and lakes every time you water or when it rains.

Perhaps future generations may look back with the same kind of apprehension we feel toward medieval towns where streets ran with raw sewage… To wit: “What were they thinking?”

What you can do

Owners who take their dogs for walks should pick up after any waste and not leave it on the ground where it can wash into storm drains and directly into the nearest waterway without treatment.

And even more important, let Sgt Poopers^® clean up dog waste in your yard weekly — before it is washed into waterways by the rain. Clean yards, clean water, clean shoes. That’s an ideal recipe for a green paw print.