Leave no waste behind: Why it's important to pick up your dog's mess
Not picking up your dog's poop is more than just an issue for the bottom of someone's shoe.
Halifax's Canines for Clean Water Campaign was created to raise awareness on the importance of picking up after your pet in the outdoors.
A pollution control study conducted in 2019 at two lakes in the Halifax, N.S., area aimed to measure E. coli levels and their sources, whether they came from birds, dogs, deers or even humans. The results revealed that much of the E. coli was canine-derived.
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The three lakes that supply Halifax's municipal drinking water are well-protected with no dogs allowed nearby, but if you do get your water from surface sources, you should be treating it.
Another recent issue is with dog waste going into lakes where people swim, resulting in an increase in nutrients that contribute to larger algal blooms.
"You can start to see more blue-green algae blooms and that's something we're going to start to see even more with climate change," Elizabeth Montgomery, water resources specialist at Halifax Regional Municipality, told The Weather Network.
The main message is that simply picking up after your pooch will help solve an array of potential problems.
Watch the video above to see why you should always pick up your pet's poop in public spaces outdoors.
