NO PUBLIC POO PLEASE!

Ballymacool Park, Letterkenny

We take Oscar to our local park for a walk every day and it is a joy to walk there with him.  The park is beautiful and is truly a gem in Letterkenny's crown.  However, I have noticed that the place is becoming used by some dog owners to allow their pet to use the park as their lavatory and  this is not a good thing!

A lot of money and work went into giving Letterkenny this fabulous park which is enjoyed by walkers, dog owners, children and families of the area and this should be respected by dog owners.

Notice in park

There are of course many signs up asking owners to pick up after their dogs (if they even allow them to "go" in the park in the first place!).  There are even bins throughout the park where the dog owner can pick up their dog's poo and bin it.  Why then do some owners think it is perfectly fine to allow their dog to foul this wonderful place?

Oscar is only 6 months old and he is trained to do his poo and pee in our yard for us to pick up.  He does this prior to his daily walks and has never, nor will never, defecate outside the area we appoint for him.

And if Oscar can be taught to do this so too can other dogs.  It's not difficult and it is such a joy to take a dog for a walk who is not going to do his business during the walk.

From DogTalk101.blogspot:

"Dog poop is a problem we deal with on a daily basis. But is it dangerous? How much do you know? Is pet waste a health hazard?

Here are the dangerous facts:

1. Dog poop is NOT good fertilizer. It's toxic to your lawn! The high nutrient concentration in dog poop will burn and discolor the grass, creating "hot spots".

2. Nearly two decades ago, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified pet waste as a dangerous pollutant in the same category as toxic chemicals and oil.

3. You may not live near water, but unscooped poop from your yard is carried by overland water flow or is washed into storm drains, ending up in far away streams, rivers and ground water. 

4. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms pet waste can spread parasites including hookworms, ringworms, tapeworms and Salmonella. When infected dog poop comes into contact with your lawn, the poop will eventually "disappear", but the parasite eggs can linger for years! When a human or animal comes into contact with that soil through everyday activities like walking barefoot, gardening or playing, they risk infection from those eggs ... even years after the poop is gone.

5. Pet waste is teaming with E. Coli and other harmful bacteria including fecal coliform bacteria, which causes serious kidney disorders, intestinal illness, cramps and diarrhea in humans. (There are 23 million fecal coliform bacteria in a single gram of pet waste!) 

6. Dog poop often contains roundworm larvae, which cause blindness. If a human ingests a roundworm larva, it can migrate through the body causing disease to the brain, lungs, kidneys, liver, heart or eyes. So when people (especially children) touch soil, dog toys or anything that has been in contact with dog feces and then touch their mouths, they can become infected. Dog poop doesn't just "wash away" or disappear. So if you're not disposing of your dog's waste, you're putting yourself, your family, your dog and your water supply at risk."

The green at the Childrens' Playground

Surely most dog owners are aware of the dangers of leaving their dog's poo lying around?  If they are not, they should be!  

What is most disturbing to me is the fact that much of the dog poo is on a little area of grass directly beside the childrens' playground!
This means that children using this area who wander out onto the green area are in direct danger of ending up with serious, life-threatening diseases simply because a dog owner decided that leaving their dogs' waste behind was acceptable behaviour!

Nasty droppings in the park!

There is also the added annoyance a person who steps in the stuff rightly feels.  They then have to attempt to wipe their shoes, probably on the grass, thus spreading any worms eggs or viruses in the poo.  Not only that, there may be some traces left of their shoe and they then walk into their house where the germs are spread further and possibly laying down danger for babies in the house or visiting the house.

Dog poo is nasty and potentially dangerous stuff.  If you can't train your dog to do his toilet at home prior to  his walk then it is incumbent on YOU to pick it up and bin it so that some innocent child doesn't end up very ill or worse!

MY FIRST FULL DAY IN MY NEW HOME

OSCAR:
(Monday, 26th August 2013)

"I wakened up this morning and discovered that I wasn't at home with my brother and family and then remembered leaving them all yesterday and my new humans, Sean and Catherine.  I know this is my new home because they told me last night and I remember before my other brothers and sister going away in cars with humans and they never came back to my old home.  

I am in a room on my own but I hear noise outside and then the door opens and Catherine came in and opened my cage and petted me calling me Oscar and telling me what a good boy I am.  I like being petted.  She told me I was such a good boy for sleeping all night and not crying.  Why would I cry?  I was comfortable and warm.  Strange creatures these humans!

She fed me and gave me a big drink of water and then for some reason decided we would stand out in the back yard (she calls it the dogs yard but I don't see any other dogs here?).  We just stood around for a while and she kept saying "Pee pee Oscar".  I have no idea what a pee pee is but she seemed to want me to do something.  Eventually she took me back inside and into my cage and thank goodness because I was just bursting for a wee.  I was half way through when Catherine heard me and came over and took my snugly rug out of the cage and went off to another room where I heard a machine starting up.  Why did she take my rug away?  Maybe I am not meant to pee on my new rug?  I don't know.  Humans can be strange.

Catherine later got a little red cube and had it in one hand.  I discovered that in the other hand she had a fistful of delicious liver cubes.  She was saying 'Oscar, sit' and then pushing my bottom down on to the floor.  Once my bottom was on the floor the red box made a click sound and Catherine gave me a cube of liver.  We did this for a little while and then I went for a lie down.  I think the word sit may be connected with my bottom touching the floor.  I will have to study this more.

Me and Anja

Later we all went out in the car again.  I was in my cage and really I don't mind this now because it means I am going on a trip somewhere and it could be somewhere exciting.  And it was.  Sean drove for a little while and then when he stopped I was lifted out and we went into a room that smelled of lots of dogs!  I know my humans (Sean and Catherine) couldn't smell them but I could.  Another human with a very friendly voice came up and petted me.  She smelled of dogs too although my humans had no idea I could smell dogs once again.  I was getting to like this place!

Catherine called this new human Anja and she was feeling me all over in a gentle way and Catherine asked to take a photo of her with me for my blog (this one you are reading.  Yes, I am going to be a bonna fide blogging dog.  Whatever that means ~ I just hear Catherine saying it so I am happy with that.

After we left Anja, who I heard my humans saying is a vet.  She seemed very like a human to me.  We went a little way in the car and then I had a very exciting time!  We stopped at a huge grassy place with the sea beside it and I got to investigate all the new smells all over the place ~ even though I was still on a lead.  Sean had the other end of the lead and he let me wander wherever I wanted and I found lots of what he called 'seaweed'.  It was pretty tasty but he kept taking it off me.  Humans, as I have said before are strange sometimes!

Lots of exploring later and it was back into the car.  I thought we were just going home but we weren't.  I was taken to a very special house where my human's have lots of little humans.  Catherine told me they are her grandchildren (whatever that means).  I was a perfect gentleman and all the people were saying what a beautiful boy I am.  I am liking all this attention!  

See?  Cake on fire!!!

Everyone was very happy and singing something called 'Happy Birthday' and there was a cake on the table and Bee (the grandchildren's mother) set it on fire!  I was a bit startled but still agreed to pose for a photograph from the safety of my human, Sean's, arms.  I couldn't take my eyes of the cake on fire though!

Later, we left to go home and I was very tired and so had a good sleep in my cage where my snuggley rug was back.  Even though I miss my brother and my family, I think I am going to like living with my new humans!"