Some ugly untold details and never discussed topics like 'Who are the poopetrators', 'How to be an Ocean-Friendly pet owner', and some more smart questions voiced in this blog post.
Pet waste is a health concern both for humans and for our canine friends. Doggy-doo-doo is a common carrier of hookworms, roundworms, whipworms… (basically a LOT of worms) as well as salmonella and a range of other parasites. Did you know that one gram of dog poop can contain up to 23 million faecal coliform bacteria? Yuck!
We want to keep our streets, beaches and public spaces clean. How can we do it? CuPooch helps dog owners dispose of waste easily and safely. We’re campaigning to remind all Dubliners of the importance of cleaning up after their pets.
Each dog creates an average of 0.75 pounds of waste daily. That’s nearly 104 tons of dog poop a day that can pollute our water when it rains. That’s a whole lot of poop! Pet owners and pedestrians alike should police one another and remind poop-leaving owners to do their duty and clean up the waste.
“Education and awareness together with enforcement is the only tool available to Dublin City Council to tackle dog fouling in public places,” the DCC spokesperson said.
Dog fouling: ‘Like drink-driving - we need a bigger campaign against it'
Here is a great example of an advertising campaign by Dublin City Council that has little chance of working. Best advertising campaigns follow the AIDA principle: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. This Ad is aimed at dog owners in an urban setting and reminds them of the consequences of not picking up your dog's poo from city sidewalk pavement. In this instance, the pester has a reasonable chance of catching the attention of dog owners. It caught mine. But will it create interest desire and action?
Consider why some dog owners would not pick up their dog waste I will give you six reasons:
- Expecting dog owners to reverse a plastic bag over their hand and pick up a piece of dog waste is abhorrent to a considerable amount of people.
- It is not that easy and not pleasant to pick up a soft, runny poo – as the one photographed, seems to indeed with your hand inside a plastic bag.
- If I do pick it up then I have to carry it before I can find a bin. The council have removed dog waste bins as people had been using them for fly flipping.
- The council believes that it is acceptable for you to carry dog waste for 2 km before you find a bin to drop it off or else bring it home.
- If I don’t pick it up what are the chances of anything bad happening to me – practically it’s down to zero.
- The council has provided many fine amenities specifically designed to cater for many activities but when it comes to walking your dog – given that a third of households own dogs – the answer is practically it’s down to zero.
So, to the many urban dog owners who do not pick up their dog waste, this campaign will not create the interest, desire or action to do so.
CuPooch has designed and trailed a scooper and carry-on bag that will bring these products to the market shortly. If you would like to know more follow us on social media @cupooch or www.cupooch.com
Be an Ocean-Friendly Pet Owner
The Problem
Pet waste is harmful to water supplies. Rain washes pet waste carrying harmful bacteria to rivers, beaches, and bays via storm drains and pet poop is consistently found on beaches around the world. Enough bacteria can cause water to be unsafe for drinking and swimming and can even contribute to the destruction of shellfish beds.
Sustainable Solution is Always to pick up after your pet!
Ready to hear our life-changing magical solution!? Pick up after your pet... It’s that easy! Scoop up your dog’s poo in our biodegradable poop bags. We don’t need it immortalised in a plastic bag for hundreds of years! Never put pet waste in a storm drain, as they empty directly to a local water body. Instead, place the poop in a recycled and biodegradable bag or bury it in your yard at least 5 inches in the ground and away from vegetable gardens and waterways.
FAQ
What should I do with my dog poop?
Pick it up! Use a bag or a poop scooper, and throw your waste in the trash. Let's be kind to our planet!
Can I just leave it on the lawn?
Bag It! It will still end up in a landfill, but the overall negative impact is lessened as fewer bacteria are left in the environment.
...But isn’t poop good lawn fertiliser?
No, not all poop is good lawn fertiliser. Due to the protein-filled dog diet, dog waste is acidic and leaving it on your lawn will kill the grass and leave dry brown spots! Not all poop is created equal.
Does dog poo affect stormwater that much?
The US EPA reported that 95% of faecal coliform found in urban stormwater was of non-human origin. Much of this waste is from dogs, as they are concentrated in urban areas (unlike wildlife, which moves around freely).
How else can I get rid of dog waste?
You can install in-ground pet waste composters; flush the waste down the toilet; or hire a pet waste pick-up service that has new uses for pet waste such as a source of energy.