Dog poo sacks along trails: Why?

[forestkeeper]

polluted rivers such as the Columbia, Willamette, etc., will never be drank because of impurities and sewage

My recollection is that Wilsonville City Council decided to build out its water supply because it was growing so fast and they intended it to grow even further; they chose to draw water from the Willamette River, treat it and use it for the city's water supply.

So the City of Wilsonville is "treating" water pumped out of the Willamette River. It's getting "treated" because of impurities. So whether a dog, human, wild animal or bird shits in a stream, or the decomposing feces drains into the water table, it will be "treated." So, still, what's the point of dog owners bagging up their pet's feces?

[fetch]

I'm scratching my head trying to determine if the anti-fling posts are supporting the baggies hanging from the bushes or not. Absent the present White House situation, I do sleep better at night flinging than bagging & hanging the article in question. The world needs bacteria to complete the circle of life, doesn't it?

I can't say that a perfect world would be absent of scat and rotting dead animals. I can without a doubt say that the world would be better off without the baggies lining the trail and hanging from the trees. An that is the topic of this blog.

Of course not. Everyone should endeavor to be a working little cog in the greater societal machine and pack it out their dog(s) feces. At least if the defective/broken cogs - "assholes" as they were called at the beginning of the thread - leave it prepackaged in bags, I can pack it out for them with minimal effort on my part. BTDT, ad nauseam. I don't even curse "them" under my breath anymore for being such filthy pigs; I feel sad for them. How horrible their lives must be to plod through one with such (pardon the pun) shitty ethics/morals and the fact their parents fundamentally failed them.

Never mind for a minute pretty sure mammalian gastrointestinal bacteria ≠ bacteria important to soil biology. Not just bacteria. A couple examples: Google "visceral larva migrans" (VLM) sometime. Or "parvovirus persistence in the environment". Not just a puppy disease and dogs are asymptomatic when actively shedding as there's a lag between that and the sloughing of the intestinal lining post-"baby" (new) virus release. Then there's the whole metroplex being endemic for flea infestations and thus tapeworms, which your standard OTC 'dewormer' antihelminthic (pyrantel) or heartworm preventive (e.g., ivermectrin, milbemycin, etc.) does not contain the appropriate drug to kill those critters and eliminate proglottid release.

In my opinion, dog shit flingers are worse than bags-and-leavers. It is what it is and my mind isn't going to change unless the science - the potential for direct canid to canid disease transmission and VLM in wildlife as well as zoonotic risk - can be mitigated. Leaving dog feces in the environment versus it being removed by the owner or a third party most definitely increases exposure risk, not lessens. So...

[Chip Down]

Clearly what this discussion needs is another visual aid:

[retired jerry]

What I want to know is, why do people release balloons into the wild?

I'm too lazy to find one of my pictures of a dead balloon found along a trail

[Aimless]

Regarding balloons, people let them fly away for the momentary thrill of watching them dance up into the sky and away with the wind. The idea that letting go of a balloon is littering, just as much as if they popped it and threw it on the ground, never occurs to them. After all, how can you litter in the sky? We hikers know better, because we see the results firsthand. For almost everyone else, once it is out of sight, it is entirely out of mind.

[Chip Down]

This could start a new trend. Imagine a fence festooned with pooch poo pouches!

[BigBear]

Retired Jerry: So, your comparing birthday balloons and dog poo sacks??? I guess we won't have to rush down to the party store on your next birthday, just a few doggie leftovers will make you just as happy.

[retired jerry]

there is a similarity in that they're both trash, plastic, found along hiking trails

I think I'd rather have dead balloons than dog poo sacks