Pete the Vet calls foul! Why it's essential to scoop that poop

Pete the Vet: There is one big negative aspect to the boost in the canine population: the parallel increase in the national production of canine faeces, or dog poop, as it is more politely termed.

Dog ownership has soared in Ireland over the past year. People spending more time at home during lockdown have realised that, at last, they are able to keep the pet they have longed for. When working from home, it’s easy to have the dog beside you at your workspace. And a twice daily stroll with your new pet is a welcome alternative to the usual commute to and from work.

Estimates suggest that there’s been a 20% surge in the Irish dog population since the start of COVID, with vets and pet shops being kept busier than ever.

There are many positives to this trend: the companionship of a dog brings significant psychological benefits, especially to young people (all teenagers deserve the utterly unconditional love that a pet offers) and to older people living alone.

However, there is one big negative aspect to the boost in the canine population: the parallel increase in the national production of canine faeces, or dog poop, as it is more politely termed.

Dog poop is unpleasant stuff, for many reasons. It’s bad enough simply on aesthetic grounds: foul smelling and dirty. But worse again, it can be dangerous: as well as carrying potentially dangerous bacteria, it often carries the eggs of the dog roundworm, Toxocara Canis.

A 1994 study found that over 80% of stray dogs in Dublin were infected with roundworm eggs, although this figure came down to just 6% in a 2019 study of owned dogs (which are likely to be dosed with anti-worm medication by their owners).

If dog worm eggs are allowed to incubate in the environment for a few weeks, they hatch into larvae which are infectious to humans. If a child accidentally ingests these larvae (e.g. after playing in a garden that’s shared with dogs that are shedding worm eggs), they will be absorbed from the child’s digestive tract into their bloodstream. From there, the larvae migrate around the body, creating microscopic cysts wherever they land. In most cases, the cysts cause no harm (e.g. if they end up in muscles) but very rarely, they can lodge in the eye (causing blindness) or the brain (causing seizures). It’s been estimated that around 1 in 10000 people develop this type of serious condition in Ireland.

Exposure of children to dog worms is surprisingly common: around 30% of teenagers have antibodies indicating that their immune system has been exposed to Toxocara Canis. In nearly all cases, the symptoms of worm infection are minor and non-specific, with only a vague unwellness similar to a mild viral infection. 

However it’s the rare instances of life-changing consequences that make dog poop a serious public health issue.

One of the big challenges is that the worm eggs are remarkably resilient, with the potential to live for months or years in the environment. Children that are prone to soil eating are more likely to be exposed to dog roundworm eggs: the soil may appear poop-free, but still contain eggs that originated from dog poop that has long been washed away by the weather.

A three-pronged approach is needed to solve this public health issue.

First, dog owners need to worm their pets regularly with an appropriate product. The necessary frequency depends on the dog’s lifestyle, but somewhere between once monthly (if sharing a home with young children) and twice yearly (if not encountering children at all) is recommended.

Second, hand hygiene makes a difference. Washing hands before eating is not just good manners: it protects children against disease causing agents like the dog roundworm.

Third, serious steps need to be taken to prevent dog poop from contaminating the environment. This aspect is emotive: it’s hard to avoid the fact that irresponsible dog owners are putting the health of their fellow citizens at risk.

The public health risk is the main reason why poop scooping has been compulsory across Ireland for over twenty years, but enforcement of the legislation has been very poor. Section 22 of the Litter Pollution Acts 1997-2009 requires that a person in charge of a dog shall immediately remove dog faeces from a public place or face an on-the-spot litter fine of €150. The maximum court fine is €3,000. However, just 47 fines were issued for this offence in 2020, and almost one in three dog poo fines over the last four years have never been paid. Half of the country's local authorities failed to issue a single fine for dog fouling in 2020. Anyone walking in public areas knows that the current system in Ireland is not working: it’s common to encounter unpicked-up dog poop.

The fact is that it’s not easy to get a successful prosecution for this offence. Litter or dog wardens need to witness the dog defaecating, and then the owner walking away from the dog poop. They then need to prove that this person is definitely in charge of the dog. Enforcement is further complicated by the fact that offences often happen early in the morning, in the evening, or at night, in poor light conditions and at times when local authority officials are not at work.

Local authorities are trying innovative approaches to solving the problem. Cork City Council’s litter wardens are donning civilian clothes to carry out “out-of-hours enforcement activities” in areas of the city which have been identified as dog-fouling blackspots. In Leitrim, offending dog poops will be DNA tested to provide a forensic link with the perpetrator.

Meanwhile, as usual, 90% of dog owners dutifully pick up after their pooches.

It’s just the stubborn minority of irresponsible renegades that need to clean up their act – and the pavements under their pets.