Dogs are wonderful pets. Loyal, fun and man’s best friend. But dog ownership comes with lots of responsibilities, including cleaning up their waste.
A quick and easy way for dog owners to help keep our local water quality healthy is to clean up after your pet.
Dog waste contains nutrients that leads to poor water quality and harmful bacteria that can make people sick.
Catherine Watts, a Water Resources Agent with Clemson Extension says :compared to a human there’s about double the amount of bacteria in dog waste”.
When dog waste is left on the ground, it will get swept away in the next heavy rain and washed into our ponds, creeks, rivers and ocean.
That leads to excess bacteria in a waterway that decreases the water quality. It can make it harmful to the public health, which can lead to beach closures and also oyster bed closures.
Watts says “Whenever you have a shellfish harvesting bed closure, especially on an area that kind of relies on it for their fishing economy or the tourist economy, it can really have an impact.”
Picking up after your pet is as easy as bringing a small plastic bag with you and collecting the waste. Throw it away in the trash, or flush it down the toilet.