Did you know that pet waste can contain disease-causing organisms such as salmonella, campylobacteriosis, toxocariasis (roundworm), toxoplasmosis, and giardia?

Scoopy Doo Campaign Educational Information

Pet Waste Facts:

Many find it difficult to believe that pets can significantly contribute to bacterial pollution in a watershed. After all, pet waste is natural, organic if you will, and simply breaks down over time - right? Not exactly. While this is true in the most literal sense, the high concentration of pets and pet waste found in urbanized environments coupled with our extraordinarily efficient drainage networks are anything but natural and can cause considerable fecal pollution problems. Pet waste accumulates on surfaces such as streets, sidewalks and lawns where it can be readily washed into stormdrains that empty into lakes, streams and ultimately Puget Sound when it rains.

Last year, animal services licensed 11,279 dogs in Thurston County and estimates that the actually number of dogs residing in the county may be as high as 45,000. The average dog poops a half-pound per day, which is a conservative estimate compared with the Food and Drug Administration's statistic of three-quarters of a pound. Thurston County dogs, therefore, generate over 22,000 pounds, or 11 tons, of untreated waste each day! In addition, pet waste contains a high concentration of fecal coliform bacteria. One gram of dog waste (the weight of a business card) contains 23 million fecal coliform bacteria, almost twice as much as human waste.

While pets are not entirely to blame for our bacterial pollution woes, they can have a significant impact on near-shore water quality. Furthermore, cleaning up after pets is easy. It is an inexpensive and simple action that we can all take to improve Puget Sound water quality.

Proper Pet Waste Disposal:

The next time you enjoy a pleasant walk with your dog, remember to grab a bag on the way out the door. Use it to pick up your pet's droppings, tie it closed and place it in the trash. Carry extra bags to avoid being caught off guard or to offer to someone that appears to have forgotten theirs - one to care, one to share. Reusing plastic newspaper bags or bread bags does the job nicely. If you are not a pet owner, consider passing along bags to someone who is. At home, pick up your pet's waste frequently, at least weekly, using any of the following options:

  • Double bag dog waste or kitty litter, tie securely and dispose in the garbage.
  • Bury pet waste in your yard making sure that the hole is at least one foot deep and 100 feet from any well, ditch, stream, or lake.
  • Install a pet waste composter available at many local retailers or on-line. Pet waste composters such as the Doggie Dooley work like miniature septic tanks to break down pet waste to a ground absorbing liquid.
  • Hire a pet waste pick-up service to do the work for you - check the phone book for local listings.

Background Information:

Thurston County is the perfect place to conduct the Scoopy Doo campaign. For one, Washington State is the leading producer of bivalve shellfish in the nation, a large portion of which is grown right here in the rich, productive waters of south Puget Sound. Thurston County is also a wonderful place to live and has experienced tremendous population growth in the past 20 years. As people move to coastal watersheds, they bring with them pollutants such as oil from cars, fertilizer, and pesticides. They also change the landscape by replacing forested and vegetated areas with homes, roads and shopping centers. Pollutants, including bacteria from pet waste, collect on impervious surfaces such as streets and sidewalks where they can wash down storm drains when it rains.

Shellfish are like sieves, filtering food and other particles-including fecal bacteria and disease-causing organisms-from the water around them. The bacteria do not harm shellfish, but they do make them temporarily unfit for human consumption. Unfortunately, bacterial pollution in many Puget Sound bays and inlets has become a serious problem. In 2000, shellfish bed downgrades in both Henderson Inlet and Nisqually Reach resulted in the creation of two shellfish protection districts. The local and state health departments cite contaminated stormwater runoff from the urbanized portions of the upper watershed as an important source of fecal pollution. In addition, a recent Thurston County study found fecal coliform from people and dogs in sample sites in Henderson Inlet, reflecting failing septic systems and pet waste.

Good news: The effectiveness of this and other education campaigns has already been seen in Olympia’s Henderson Inlet. During the September 16, 2008 meeting of the Thurston County Shellfish Protection District Stakeholders Group, Bob Woolrich of the Washington Department of Health’s office of Shellfish and Water Protection announced an upgrade to the conditional closure level for commercial shellfish harvest in Henderson Inlet. The upgrade, which is based on fecal coliform bacteria counts during rainfall events, allows an inch of rain over a 24 hour period, rather than the original 1/2 inch. Woolrich attributes the upgrade to public education and a general increase in awareness about stormwater.

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