Not that anyone would notice, but it rains here quite a bit. Sure as dogs … poop.
It’s a bad combination, all that water and waste. Even if all that rain seems to magically wash everything away. Especially when all that rain magically washes everything away.
During rainfall, pet waste left on lawns, beaches, trails and sidewalks washes into storm drains. These wastes and the pathogens they contain — bacteria, parasites and viruses — end up flowing directly into streams and lakes that eventually reach Puget Sound.
Every creek and stream from Marysville to the King County line fails water quality standards due to fecal coliform bacteria found in pet waste.
Snohomish County has spent four years studying this health and environmental hazard and is wrapping up a $475,000 campaign on how to solve the problem. The main focus is education and finding the right way to persuade pet owners to “scoop the poop, bag it and put it in the trash.”
Officials estimate the Snohomish County dog population at more than 126,000, living in 84,000 homes. That’s a lot of dogs. And yes, a heck of a lot of poop. How much, roughly? More than 20 tons per day.
According to the county’s surface water management division, roundworms, E. coli and Giardia are a few of the many harmful micro-organisms that can be transmitted from pet waste to humans. Children who play outside and adults who garden are at greatest risk of infection.
If ingested, fecal coliform and other bacteria found in pet waste can make people sick, leading to breathing problems, diarrhea, blindness and worse.
The human and canine population is simply too big to pretend that a problem doesn’t exist. There’s no room for harkening back to a past where Fido was let out the front door to go “do his business,” and the matter was simply “out of sight, out of mind.”
The county has its work cut out for it, education-wise. Some people refuse to be responsible for their pets and the environment. Others are simply unaware of the potential health hazards. The simple message is the same for all: Scoop the poop, bag it and put it in the trash.
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