> with your misleading post,

Wow, yikes. Misleading how?

Pet waste is a problem. The only reason I opted to reply to you is because my read of your post is factually incorrect by stating pet waste is a leading cause of waterways pollution in Massachusetts.

> Stormwater runoff is recognized by the EPA as the #1 source of water pollution in Massachusetts and the primary reason why more than half of our waterbodies are considered “impaired.”

The Mass Rivers Alliance has been studying our waters for decades and their website contains exhaustive details of where pollution is coming from and its impact. Pet waste is not mentioned in a single study by MRA or by the EPA that I can find.

Pet waste doesn’t register in their studies of our waterways because it is negligible compared other sources. That’s not to say there is no impact, but it’s impact is minute compared to other sources.

I’d like to be proven wrong and would welcome evidence to support your claim. I work in Animal Control and work daily to educate people about the importance of cleaning up after their pets and keeping their pets on leashes when not in enclosed spaces. I’d be delighted to learn something new, be able to provide scale to the problem, and hopefully convince more people of how important a cleaner city is to all of us. People too often think “it’s only one poop” but we both know how it doesn’t take many people not being responsible for there to be too much shit. Anecdotally, seeing pet waste seems to encourage more people to not do the right thing. It’s awful.

> Dogs can harbor lots of viruses, bacteria and parasites… (A single gram contains an estimated 23 million bacteria.)

And how does that compare to human waste and wastewater runoff? No one here is arguing dog waste is clean and safe. But neither should anyone claim human wastewater is any better and there’s a whole lot more of it being routinely dumped.

But…

Overhauling our sewer system will take decades, cost billions, and certainly isn’t the kind of “exciting” projects politicians are eager to take on but cleaning up after yourself is something each of us can do and which has an impact on public health and the environment each and every day.

Sadly, Animal Control Officers have very little in the way of enforcement tools available for enforcing waste pickup and leash laws. We can ticket but people but they can refuse to show ID and there’s nothing we can do except hand them a citation. But I’m not sure if there is an easy answer here.

People that are concerned about water pollution and shared spaces should really reach out to the Parks Department to encourage more dedicated infrastructure for pets and encourage more tools for education and/or enforcement if they feel that will help. They should also check out MRA’s website and send emails encouraging their representatives to address the serious wastewater issues in our state. We have an opportunity to be a national leader in the realm of clean water.