Guest column: Discovering what your dog has left behind ...

It's spring time and in other parts of the country, it's baseball season. In Summit County, it's stinky dog feces season. The snow is melting and various piles of smelly land mines are being uncovered everywhere. Dog feces seems like an innocuous substance but it is can cause a multitude of diseases for humans and pets. It can destroy environments and friendships with neighbors.

Most of us moved to Summit County because it is a healthy place to live so its surprising to me some people don't pick up their dog's feces. In our community, some of the most ardent, environmentally conscious people think nothing of leaving stinky piles behind for someone else to pick up. It does not biodegrade here and return to the earth.

Even after the feces is removed, it can leave parasites that linger in the soil for years. Parasites that can infect healthy people and dogs. Young children are the most at risk. Children play in the dirt and rub their hands in their eyes. They contract disease and spread it.

Parasitic infections can make humans extremely sick, and for pregnant women these infections can severely harm a developing baby. Common parasitic worms carried by dog feces are ocular larva migrans, roundworm and hookworm. The parasitic worms that cause Ocular Larva Migrans can cause a disease leading to serious eye damage in children. Also, dogs carry E coli, salmonella and giardia which is spread through fecal contact.

The health of puppies and dogs is at risk as well. Park visitors could arrive at a park with a healthy dog who becomes infected by roundworm or hookworm. There is a disease called peripheral blood eosinophilia derived from contract with feces. The disease is painful and causes diarrhea and abdominal pain in pets.

If your dog suffers from abdominal discomfort, vomiting loss of appetite or severe weight loss, see a Veterinarian. These parasites can kill our four legged friends. Dogs can be infected without showing signs.

Any alpine environment can accommodate scat from wild animals but a concentration of any animal's waste in an area can wreck havoc on an ecosystem. Even on hiking trails we should pick up after our pets. When dog feces is not disposed of properly, rains bring it into streams and lakes.

Fish kills can result. Dog waste adds nitrogen to the water and nitrogen depletes the water's oxygen. Healthy underwater grasses, wildlife and fish can not thrive. Thankfully it is not every dog owner.

There are a few owners who don't pick up after their dogs and these few dogs can create quite a mess. Sometimes a conscientious owner may look away for a moment. Both the conscientious owner and a negligent owner can cause resentment in pet owners and non-pet owners.

Is it any wonder why our neighbors complain? One of my elderly neighbors lives near a dog park. She slipped in stinky goop leaving her house twice last spring! She is afraid of falling again and she is literally trapped in her house by feces! We need dog owners to police each other. It may take a village to make Summit County cleaner!

We have precious few summer months in the high country. Our children inevitably share our parks with dogs. So for the sake of health and well being of our community, scoop that poop!

Poop Scoop at Carter Park is scheduled for Wednesday, May 16, this year. It is be coordinated by Vanessa Flaherty at the Riverwalk Center.



<i>Information garnered from www.cdc.gov/healthypets , www.doggonepooppatrol.com. Questions or comments about this column can be directed to roshto6@msn.com.</i>