New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
“On the South Shore alone, we have more than 16,000 registered dogs from Weymouth to Kingston. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average dog produces approximately ¾ pound of waste per day. If you do the math, that’s more than 12,000 pounds of poop per day and 4.5 million pounds of poop per year – just on the South Shore… And that’s not even including cats!
WHY IS DOG POOP SUCH A PROBLEM?
Scooping the poop is not just about the mess – it’s about clean water and the health of our community:
• Leaving behind pet waste is unhealthy for people, other animals and the environment. It is a breeding ground for infection. It is raw sewage with twice as much bacteria as human waste.
• A 40-pound dog produces 7.8 billion fecal coliform bacteria per day.
• Pet waste left on the side of the road or in the woods releases bacteria that can end up in our water supply where humans and other animals can be exposed.
• Giardia, Salmonella, and Campylobacter are just some of the diseases that can be transferred to humans from pet waste.
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also confirmed that pet waste can spread parasites including salmonella, tapeworms, roundworms and hookworms…
Help us keep the South Shore clean and scoop the poop!”-North and South Rivers Watershed Association.
North and South Rivers Watershed Association photo.
