It’s a universal experience so unpleasant that it is often acknowledged via shouts of various four-letter words.

It happens when you least expect it. On your way to an important career-defining meeting, during a leisurely stroll in the park, or, in accordance with Murphy’s Law, after long hours of preparation involving curling irons and brand new designer shoes.

Dog Poop. Crap. Poo-Poo. “It” prefaced with “sh.” Feces. Waste. Excrement.

Call it what you like, but dog poop is a fact that you’re guaranteed to see proof of during your lifetime. City to country, whether you own a dog or not- the poop will find your shoes and maybe more (yikes!)

Sh*! and runs have become particular problems in the cities, and as a result state governments are increasing pet waste pollution fines.

Recently, our friends at dogchatter.com also blogged about this growing problem. Among their list of reasons why you should pick up after your dog was that dog poop contains fecal coliform bacteria that can make you sick.

I started to wonder if people were aware of the effects of letting your dog loose on city sidewalks. For such a health conscious society rarely do people discuss health effects of irresponsible dog owners.

Think about this:

-Dog poop is one of the leading causes of E. Coli pollution: each gram of dog poop has over 20,000,000 E. Coli colonies in it.

-3.6 billion pounds of dog waste/year is produced in the United States alone, equaling 800 football fields, one foot high.

-A dog or cat can obtain various different parasites, viruses and stages of bacteria from their own poop. How confident are you that your neighbor’s dog has been dewormed? Do you know what worms your dog is protected against?

-Storm water carries pet waste and other pollutants directly into waterways.

At Rascodog we believe in responsible owner behavior. Your dog isn’t going to pick up after himself after all!

Here are some simple things you can do to keep your pets healthy and save a chunk of change:

Put a friendly message on the bulletin board at the local dog park to remind pet owners to clean up after their dogs.

Make sure you have appropriate dog walking gear with you and your dog at all times! Rascodog’s ReadyLeash makes this easy with biodegradable bags built-in to the leash handle.

Have a neighborhood clean up and start fresh!

Peer Pressure (as suggested by SmartDogs): Politely remind someone to pick up after their dog if you see them walking away… you can even offer them an extra bag!

Become your communtites own “poop police”… although I wouldn’t reccommend picking it up with your bare hands like this guy from Florida: Poop Policeman 

What are some other things you can do? Leave us a comment below and we’ll include your tips in the list above!

For more information about some canine parasitic conditions check out PetMD.