Clean up after your dog: Preventing water pollution can be as easy as remembering to take along a plastic bag or pooper scooper when you walk your dog. Scoopers are available in most pet stores. Many towns supply dog-waste bags in public areas, or you can order them online. Plastic grocery bags work too!
Hire someone to scoop for you! Believe it or not, a number of scooping service providers have sprung up to address this increasing need. Campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis and toxocariasis
Dispose of it properly: Once you've done — or paid someone else to do — the dirty work, you can dispose of the waste in a variety of ways:
- Put it in the trash, still wrapped in its bag (check first with town officials to make sure this is permitted in your community)
- Flush it down the toilet (without the bag)
- Bury it in your yard, at least five inches deep and located away from food gardens, kids' play areas, waterways, wetlands, wells or ditches
- Install an in-ground pet waste digester, which is much like a small septic tank, and dispose of it there. Digesters are generally available in pet stores and in pet supply catalogs for between $50 and $75.
Note that pet waste should never be added to a compost pile, because heat levels won't be high enough to kill the harmful pathogens it contains.
Look around: If dog waste stations aren't already installed in your community, talk to your local parks department to inquire about providing them in parks, along trails and in public places where people often walk their dogs.
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