Three times in the last two weeks, I have been around a person (a girl of course), that has referred to her baby’s poo as cute. And two of the times, the baby just happened to be a puppy. Now I don’t have children of my own, but I have had puppies and never once have I ever referred to the dog poop as “cute.” Nasty and disgusting yes, cute never! I didn’t get into the effects of what this “cute” poo can do to us as a society, I just uttered what my dad uttered many times while he was alive about you girls, and that was “women.”
And then, I am at a waterway here in Carlsbad with my friend (who shall rename nameless for the sake of being lynched by the environmental people), and our dogs. Well she has a dog that resembles a horse, and I am shocked, as I see this mountain of a pooch doing his business in the water. Again my father’s uttered phrase comes to mind as I let out a heavy sigh. Well I guess she is not afraid of the lynching stuff, as she posted this picture with her dog doing his doo to Facebook for all to see. And I guess this just goes to show the power that you girls have over us guys and why I did not say anything to her, because she is really cute. If this would have been one of my guys friends and his dog would have done what her dog did in the water, he would have been diving in head first to get that stuff out, very quickly. The power that you girls have over we guys is another story in itself, but you do have it, because you girls can make (and not make) us guys do some crazy things.
Anyway, back to the dog poo, (although I think the girl power thing is more interesting), this dog poop stuff is so important. My dogs and I love Del Mar beach, and often go there to just hang out. I am amazed at the number of people that I see with their dogs and what they let them do in the water there, then callously have that brazen look on their face like no one is watching. Let me tell you something fella, we are watching and we will remember what you look like. Is it any wonder why some beaches have to be closed down because of such high bacteria levels in them? And I must admit, I was a guilty party up until a few years ago, because I just didn’t know about this damage to the water caused by dog poop. And I am assuming that some of these people don’t know either, so I have a little tolerance. But still ignorance is no excuse. This is our world and we must take care of it. If each of us do a little something daily, it will add up to something big for our environment, big in a positive way.
And cat poop is no different. Luckily cats don’t go on walks with their owners and there are no cat beaches, because all of the dogs would chase them away, but still, there are strays and outside cats that just go and handle their business anywhere they want to, which leads to storm water drain runoff coming in contact with their poo increasing the bacteria levels as well. Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite found in cat poop. Their eggs can cause brain damage to babies whose mothers were exposed while pregnant. Brain disease can also happen in people with a poor immune support system. In addition, Toxoplasma gondii has also been shown to cause harm to sea otters and other wildlife as well.
Knowledge is not power. Having knowledge and doing something with that knowledge, now that is power. So start by cleaning up after your pet, in and out of the water to help lower bacteria levels at out beaches and waterways. With 77 million dog owners and 93 million cat owners in the USA, if we each did a little, that will add up to a lot. And keeping our environment clean is very powerful for ourselves and our children. Well I don’t have any children (yet), but you know what I mean.
And for those of you who hate to clean up after your pet, and I think we all do, good news is on the horizon, where you will have the best of both worlds. Not cleaning up after your pet and helping lower bacteria levels at our beaches, what more could you ask for? OK, a million dollars maybe, sorry I can’t help you there. And please you girls, be careful with that power you have over us guys, it is so very strong and we are weak and feeble around it.
