I have a bit of a problem. I’m a dog owner and we live downtown in the Eaglewind townhouses and the number of people living in and around our area has exploded. With that so has the number of dogs. Unfortunately, this also means more feces littered on the ground. I’m not sure if it’s because of the snow, but it seems as though way too many dog owners in our area believe that the feces they blatantly disregard to pick up will melt along with the snow.
Now I understand that many people probably don’t have a Ph.D. in biochemistry, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that when the temperatures rise, the snow (which is just frozen water) will melt. And guess what’s under that snow? That’s right, it’s your dog’s feces that was left right on the sidewalk.
A simple Google search will reveal that dog feces is one of the most common carriers of the following diseases: Whipworms, Hookworms, Roundworms, Tapeworms, Parvo, Corona, Giardiasis, Salmonellosis, Cryptosporidiosis, Campylobacteriosis. In case you haven’t figured it out yet – these are not good things.
I mentioned earlier that our area’s population is exploding (well it’s probably doubled). Do you know what comes with more people in addition to more dogs? That’s right, more kids.
For those who don’t know what those are, they’re little humans aged one to 12. These little humans sometimes like to play outside, especially on those nice sunny days (yeah the same days that the snow likes to melt).
For those without kids, guess what happens sometimes to those little kids while they play outside. Sometimes they fall, and when they fall, even on the sidewalk, guess what these kids are lucky enough to fall on.
In case you haven’t been following along, that’s right, once in a while they are lucky enough to fall in that lovely pile of dog poo that some ignoramus left behind to “melt.”
Like I said, I have a problem, but it’s not with the dogs. Rather, I have a problem with ignorant, selfish, lazy dog owners who are too self-absorbed to walk over to the free roll of doggie bags provided by the District of Squamish and clean up after their dog. You might raise a huff about nickels in bread, but perhaps you should be looking in the mirror and picking up your dog’s poop.
Sean Verret
Squamish
