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Picking Up After Our Pets · Talking FACS

• 0:01
  Welcome to Talking FACS.
• 0:03
  What you need to know about family food finance and fitness.
• 0:07
  This nationally recognized award-winning podcast is hosted by the University of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
• 0:16
  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals,
• 0:19
  families and communities to improve quality of life.
• 0:25
  Hello and welcome to Talking FACS.
• 0:27
  What you need to know about family food finance and fitness.
• 0:30
  I am your host,
• 0:31
  Mindy McCulley Extension Specialist for instructional support with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky.
• 0:39
  Today we're gonna be talking about a,
• 0:42
  a smelly subject,
• 0:43
  but it's an important topic and my guest is Dr Brad Lee Extension professor with the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.
• 0:52
  And you might be surprised that we have Doctor Lee on the Talking Facts Podcast,
• 0:57
  but he's going to be talking about picking up after your pet and this is such an important topic for families and for homeowners.
• 1:07
  And I know that we're gonna have a fun discussion today.
• 1:10
  So welcome,
• 1:10
  Doctor Lee.
• 1:11
  Uh,
• 1:11
  thank you.
• 1:12
  So it's good to be here.
• 1:13
  I am one of the 46% of Kentucky homeowners who owns a dog and every time that I'm out with my dog taking a walk,
• 1:23
  seeing excrement on the,
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  on the sidewalk or on the side of the road or on in the yard,
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  it just makes my blood start to boil because I like to pick up the poop.
• 1:33
  But I worry about those people who don't.
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  So that's part of the reason why I invited you onto the show because I know that there are really good reasons for why we need to pick up the poop beyond just the aesthetics of,
• 1:47
  of keeping our,
• 1:48
  our communities clean.
• 1:50
  So I'm glad that you're here today.
• 1:52
  And let's just get right into to why it is so important to pick up after our pets.
• 2:00
  First of all,
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  why don't you tell us what's,
• 2:03
  what's in that poop that is of concern?
• 2:06
  Well,
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  uh the bulk of it is water,
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  70% of its water.
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  So really what we're interested in is the,
• 2:12
  the dry material that is gonna be left behind once it desiccates.
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  And that's a lot of it might be chemically inert,
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  but some of it's gonna be pathogens,
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  bacteria,
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  things can be harmful to other pets,
• 2:25
  your pets.
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  But in addition to that,
• 2:27
  a considerable amount of phosphorus,
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  and that's kind of what I've been focusing on with our uh research is the phosphorus content of dog poop.
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  Dog poop contains 3% phosphorus.
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  Phosphorus can be a problem when it gets into our waterways,
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  particularly in urban areas.
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  We have a the stormwater that is,
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  you know,
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  in the,
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  when it rains out in the agricultural fields and we have surface water runoff.
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  We call that a runoff and we encourage agricultural producers to stop the runoff kind of slow it down.
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  Do something like that.
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  We encourage them to take land out of production,
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  install buffer strips,
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  uh grass waterways,
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  something to help keep that water on the field,
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  those nutrients that are in the water,
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  stay on the field in the urban center in the cities and the towns,
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  we don't have an incentive.
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  We don't encourage folks to do that.
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  In fact,
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  uh,
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  pavement,
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  you know,
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  pavement means growth a lot of times in towns and cities and we end up with that,
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  those that phosphorus just running right into our stormwater and that goes into our creeks and is not treated once it gets there,
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  it can cause ification,
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  which is,
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  uh,
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  essentially just the neutrally of the water and algal blooms that can be harmful will grow in there and damage our wildlife.
• 3:47
  Ok.
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  So we've already established the fact that I'm,
• 3:50
  I'm a pooper scooper.
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  So I'm gonna play devil's advocate for just a minute here.
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  There's wildlife that runs through my yard.
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  I've got deer and,
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  and rabbits and all kinds of things that run through my yard and nobody's running behind them,
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  scooping up their poop.
• 4:07
  So,
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  what about that kind of poop?
• 4:09
  What's the difference between my dog's poop and their poop.
• 4:12
  Well,
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  good point.
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  There's wildlife everywhere.
• 4:16
  I mean,
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  I live in the middle of Lexington and we've got possums and skunks that live in my neighborhood.
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  I'm sure they're,
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  they're doing their business.
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  But the concentration of those animals in the city are considerably less than when we have dogs.
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  Dogs are the number one pet across the United States,
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  including Kentucky.
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  Kentucky,
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  actually in 2012 ranked third in the nation for the number of dogs per household.
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  So we have a large concentration of phosphorus spreaders in our urban center and we are importing phosphorus in the form of dog food from other states and bringing that phosphorus to our cities and where it ends up being excreted on our soils.
• 5:02
  In Kentucky,
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  Kentucky is blessed with a high phosphorus content of soils anyway.
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  It's great for agriculture,
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  but it's bad for cities.
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  So urbanites,
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  typically we don't manage our soils or our fertilizer very well,
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  like an agriculture producer.
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  They are very careful about how much nutrients they put down because it costs a lot for them for us.
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  You know,
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  if I've got a quarter acre lot,
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  you know,
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  I could spend 20 bucks to 50 bucks and knock out my fertilizer requirement for the year over a weekend.
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  And without even thinking,
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  I could be applying phosphorus to soils that are already high phosphorus.
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  And I may have two dogs running around the backyard also depositing phosphorus all in a,
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  in an area that we don't need it.
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  It doesn't need it anyway.
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  So how can we help our homeowners?
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  Not only recognize what their phosphorus needs and other nutrient needs might be for their home lawns beyond what their four legged friends might be depositing on their lawns.
• 6:02
  Sure.
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  If you're going to apply fertilizer,
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  I would encourage everybody to get a soil test.
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  Take a soil test anywhere from free all the way to maybe $10 is all it's gonna cost to get a soil test.
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  Take it to your County Cord extension office.
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  They will tell you,
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  you know,
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  you tell them what you want to grow.
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  If it's turf grass or if it's a garden,
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  tell them what you want to grow in the garden and they will give you a,
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  a fertilizer recommendation.
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  And I would say that nine times out of 10,
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  you will not need phosphorus.
• 6:34
  Ok.
• 6:36
  So we're pretty good about picking up poop.
• 6:41
  Uh I think you told me that 60% of us pick up the poop when we're out and about,
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  but it's the backyard homeowners that are,
• 6:49
  are really not very good about picking up poop in our own yards.
• 6:53
  Yeah,
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  absolutely.
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  And so we really need to think about that when we're at home.
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  First of all,
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  who wants to step in it?
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  Right.
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  And if you step in it and then walk in your house,
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  you're bringing in not only the phosphorus that you don't need in your house.
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  Either but also other diseases too.
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  Right.
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  Correct.
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  You could be bringing in the pathogens and that dog waste and bringing it in the house.
• 7:18
  Yeah.
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  So we just need to all get into the,
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  the habit of picking up the poop.
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  It's not fun.
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  Nobody likes to,
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  to do it.
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  But it's much better than the alternative of leaving it picking up.
• 7:30
  Uh,
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  dog waste is always a good idea.
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  Nobody really wants to but a lot of people do it.
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  60%.
• 7:35
  There have been surveys done across the world.
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  Various countries have this issue.
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  You know,
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  everybody with dogs as pets,
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  ha have this,
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  has this issue in Europe.
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  They've done surveys to try to,
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  uh,
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  identify,
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  I think that a couple of studies I saw were anywhere from 60 to 63%.
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  We went out to dog parks in Kentucky and we would observe folks for four hours a day,
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  uh,
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  to find out who picked up dog,
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  uh,
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  dog waste.
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  We did that over a week and,
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  uh,
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  lo and behold,
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  our numbers at the dog parks were approximately 60%.
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  So,
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  so it's pretty universal then,
• 8:08
  huh?
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  Correct.
• 8:09
  Correct.
• 8:10
  Most people pick it up.
• 8:11
  Well,
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  that's good.
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  Um,
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  are there any initiatives or things that we can do to encourage people to be more responsible about picking up the poop?
• 8:20
  I wish there was an initiative there.
• 8:22
  There's,
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  uh,
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  what,
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  what we have is a,
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  uh,
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  if you live in a city or a town.
• 8:27
  However,
• 8:28
  you want to refer to your community with a population of 10,000 people or more.
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  Uh,
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  more than likely you are your municipal separate storm sewer system community.
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  Those communities are regulated by the EPA.
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  And of course,
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  uh uh nonpoint source nutrients in those communities.
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  It's an issue as well as bacteria.
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  So,
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  uh that kind of is the initiative.
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  However,
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  it's very tough to enforce something like that.
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  There are six things that those uh towns need to do and this would fall under public education,
• 8:59
  you know,
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  educate your neighbors and pick up the dog waste because really,
• 9:03
  right now,
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  most communities are not monitoring for nutrients or bacteria running out of that town,
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  uh or the,
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  the creeks that run through that town and,
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  and drain that town and take it out to the country or to that creek that just is outside of town that everybody likes to visit might like to play in it.
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  But just think that that's where the stormwater goes downstream.
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  So they,
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  they take uh that nutrient or those excess nutrients or the pathogens end up draining there.
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  And really,
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  if we think about what happens to that dog waste,
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  it doesn't just disappear in the backyard.
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  It breaks down into its elemental parts.
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  A lot of that phosphorus gets uh taken up by the soil,
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  goes into our soil,
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  the new nitrogen as well.
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  But our soils can only hold so much phosphorus.
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  There's a finite amount.
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  For example,
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  Minneapolis Saint Paul,
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  Doctor Hoby at the University of Minnesota looked at the watersheds surrounding uh in that area where M Minneapolis Saint Paul is located.
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  And they found that almost there's to the point where a pound in the community will equal a pound of phosphorus leaving that community.
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  So it is almost full,
• 10:15
  right?
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  So Minnesota along with 10 other states,
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  they decided we're not gonna be able to educate our way out of this problem.
• 10:23
  So we are going to require all homeowners to get a soil test and demonstrate they need phosphorus before they can purchase it.
• 10:34
  Oh,
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  ok.
• 10:35
  So it's still available.
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  You just have to have a soil test saying that you actually need it before you can buy it.
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  So I guess beyond handing out little bags as I'm out walking and,
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  and seeing others who aren't picking up,
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  there's not a whole lot that I can do except our podcast here.
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  Hopefully,
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  maybe that might do some education once people pick up their waste.
• 10:57
  Is there any special way that we should be disposing of that waste right now.
• 11:02
  The best way is uh to stay safe,
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  put it in the the dumpster uh trash.
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  There have been some initiatives uh particularly across the nation.
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  There have been some initiatives to try to identify a way that we can compost it or turn it into something uh beneficial,
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  beneficial reuse.
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  Uh However,
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  those are all in their pilot stages and it's not economically feasible right now to do that.
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  So,
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  really,
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  you know,
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  eventually it'll go to the landfill and that's probably the best fit place for it right now.
• 11:28
  Ok.
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  We have so much recreational water in Kentucky that if people want to keep our recreational water recreational,
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  we've got to keep it clean.
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  And if we are number three in the nation of dog owners,
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  then it seems to me that if we aren't responsible,
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  that 40% of us could really quickly make our recreational waters uninhabitable,
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  but they could certainly contribute to it.
• 11:54
  Ok.
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  There are several sources of phosphorus that,
• 11:56
  that could be addressed.
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  I see this as a way homeowners can get involved to clean up the water.
• 12:03
  Number one,
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  don't apply phosphorus fertilizers without getting a soil test saying you need it.
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  And number two,
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  pick up after your pets.
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  Those are the two sources of phosphorus in the urban,
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  uh,
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  urban water sheds.
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  And something to remember is hazardous alga blooms that these alga blooms,
• 12:20
  uh,
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  grow in nutrient rich water,
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  such as those that have a lot of,
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  uh,
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  phosphorus and nitrogen in it.
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  Those are also toxic to dogs.
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  So,
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  if you have a dog,
• 12:31
  then you enjoy taking them to the lake and playing in the water.
• 12:33
  Well,
• 12:34
  it's always a good idea to make sure that you had checked some sort of,
• 12:39
  uh,
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  I think division of water has an advisory board to find out there's hazardous alga blooms identified during,
• 12:45
  uh,
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  the time that you plan on taking your dog there to the,
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  to the waterway.
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  So,
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  you know,
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  if dog owners can help themselves and help their,
• 12:54
  their best friends,
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  you know,
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  take care of them before we wrap up,
• 12:58
  are there any other points you would really like to emphasize?
• 13:02
  Yes,
• 13:02
  phosphorus uh,
• 13:03
  contributes to a water quality impairments.
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  So let's clean up,
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  clean up our dog waste and let's avoid phosphorus containing fertilizers.
• 13:12
  And that's gonna help homeowners do their part.
• 13:15
  So we want to keep our water clean for drinking.
• 13:18
  We want to keep our water clean for playing in and we want to enjoy our pets in healthy and safe ways.
• 13:26
  So,
• 13:26
  all good reasons to pick up after our pets,
• 13:29
  I think.
• 13:30
  Yes.
• 13:30
  Well,
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  thank you,
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  Doctor Lee for your time on this very important topic.
• 13:35
  I hope that our listeners will take it to heart and will really be diligent about cleaning up after their pets.
• 13:42
  That would be great.
• 13:43
  We'd love to see that,
• 13:44
  you know,
• 13:44
  Kentucky becomes,
• 13:46
  you know,
• 13:46
  greater than 60% in public.
• 13:48
  Let's get it up to 70 maybe 80%.
• 13:50
  That would be fantastic.
• 13:51
  Well,
• 13:51
  I'm shooting for 100% in my neighborhood.
• 13:54
  Well,
• 13:55
  good luck.
• 13:56
  All right,
• 13:57
  if you are just tuning in,
• 13:58
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• 14:00
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