ThisistheInfiniteIs t1_iyd9o3p wrote on November 30, 2022 at 3:28 PM

Reply to comment by defenestron in PSA: Please clean up after you dogs. by Itburns138

Yes, agricultural animal waste is a serious issue in places where farming dominates the landscape, but the city of Boston is not one of those places now is it?

I am not sure why you are attempting to minimize this serious issue with your misleading post, but you are doing the city of Boston and indeed most cities a disservice. Pet waste is one of the leading causes of storm water runoff pollution in the city.

"There are some 83 million pet dogs in the USA alone that generate about 10.6 million TONS of poop every year and many millions of gallons of urine. That's enough poop to fill a line of tractor trailers from Boston to Seattle."

"Dogs can harbor lots of viruses, bacteria and parasites — including harmful pathogens like e coli, giardia and salmonella. (A single gram contains an estimated 23 million bacteria.) Studies have traced 20 to 30 percent of the bacteria in water samples from urban watersheds to dog waste.

Just two to three days of waste from 100 dogs can contribute enough bacteria, nitrogen and phosphorous to close 20 miles of a bay-watershed to swimming and shell fishing, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

It also can get into the air we breathe: a recent study of air samples in Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, Mich., found that 10 to 50 percent of the bacteria came from dog poop."

Only about 60 percent of dog owners claimed that they actually pick up after their pets. It is a huge problem.

"It was also noted in a 1982 study of Baltimore, Maryland catchments that dog feces were the single greatest contributor of fecal coliform and fecal strep bacteria (Lim and Oliveri, 1982)"

Edit: Added direct links for those who are too lazy to actually read the whole article.

defenestron t1_iydurq7 wrote on November 30, 2022 at 5:46 PM

> with your misleading post,

Wow, yikes. Misleading how?

Pet waste is a problem. The only reason I opted to reply to you is because my read of your post is factually incorrect by stating pet waste is a leading cause of waterways pollution in Massachusetts.

> Stormwater runoff is recognized by the EPA as the #1 source of water pollution in Massachusetts and the primary reason why more than half of our waterbodies are considered “impaired.”

The Mass Rivers Alliance has been studying our waters for decades and their website contains exhaustive details of where pollution is coming from and its impact. Pet waste is not mentioned in a single study by MRA or by the EPA that I can find.

Pet waste doesn’t register in their studies of our waterways because it is negligible compared other sources. That’s not to say there is no impact, but it’s impact is minute compared to other sources.

I’d like to be proven wrong and would welcome evidence to support your claim. I work in Animal Control and work daily to educate people about the importance of cleaning up after their pets and keeping their pets on leashes when not in enclosed spaces. I’d be delighted to learn something new, be able to provide scale to the problem, and hopefully convince more people of how important a cleaner city is to all of us. People too often think “it’s only one poop” but we both know how it doesn’t take many people not being responsible for there to be too much shit. Anecdotally, seeing pet waste seems to encourage more people to not do the right thing. It’s awful.

> Dogs can harbor lots of viruses, bacteria and parasites… (A single gram contains an estimated 23 million bacteria.)

And how does that compare to human waste and wastewater runoff? No one here is arguing dog waste is clean and safe. But neither should anyone claim human wastewater is any better and there’s a whole lot more of it being routinely dumped.

But…

Overhauling our sewer system will take decades, cost billions, and certainly isn’t the kind of “exciting” projects politicians are eager to take on but cleaning up after yourself is something each of us can do and which has an impact on public health and the environment each and every day.

Sadly, Animal Control Officers have very little in the way of enforcement tools available for enforcing waste pickup and leash laws. We can ticket but people but they can refuse to show ID and there’s nothing we can do except hand them a citation. But I’m not sure if there is an easy answer here.

People that are concerned about water pollution and shared spaces should really reach out to the Parks Department to encourage more dedicated infrastructure for pets and encourage more tools for education and/or enforcement if they feel that will help. They should also check out MRA’s website and send emails encouraging their representatives to address the serious wastewater issues in our state. We have an opportunity to be a national leader in the realm of clean water.

ThisistheInfiniteIs t1_iydyynm wrote on November 30, 2022 at 6:13 PM

Yikes, are you ok? You are making a lot of inaccurate claims here, and you continue to try to minimize what is a significant problem which is pretty puzzling?

"Pet waste doesn’t register in their studies of our waterways because it is negligible compared other sources. That’s not to say there is no impact, but it’s impact is minute compared to other sources."

Again, in a 1982 study of Baltimore, Maryland catchments that dog feces were the single greatest contributor of fecal coliform and fecal strep bacteria (Lim and Oliveri, 1982)

Also, about 30 percent of all bacteria in samples taken from urban watersheds can be traced back to dog waste, which is a very large percentage.

If you had bothered to read the article that I linked to in my comment, you could have found all the sources to back up the statements that I quoted from that article which clearly show that you are wrong.

Pet waste is in fact one of the chief sources of storm water runoff pollution, you are apparently just assuming something else to be true without any evidence to back it up.

Seems to me like you are here just to have an argument, I don't think you even bothered to read my reply, so good luck with that. Bye bye

I appreciate your dedication to the topic of dog waste sanitation, but your attempt at minimizing the impact of pet waste on our environment is not helping to fix the problem.

EDIT:Highlighted for clarity