Dogs Pose threat to water

Do you have a Dog? If you do. Do you clean up after dog? After reading this article about how water gets contaminated from dog watse I thought it would great to let every know how important it is to clean up after your pets. Everyone knows that dogs can be dirty but it took science studies to determine how dirty and nasty they can be. Dog watse can generate disease-causing bacteria that can make people sick. Studies done in the last few years put dogs third or fourth on the list of contributors to bacteria in contaminated waters. Researchers have found that at some beaches, dogs help raise bacteria levels so high that visitors must stay out of the water. Several studies have found that roughly 40% of Americans don't pick up their dogs' feces (women are more likely to do so than men). That is a lot watse!.The environmental impact of dog waste went unrecognized for decades. Then scientists developed lab techniques to determine the origin of fecal bacteria contaminating water. One method is a variant of DNA fingerprinting. Another method looks at the antibiotic resistance of microbes from different species. This is a great article and I encourage everyone that has pets to read this. Among the most contaminated spots found were Stevenson Creek in Clearwater, Fla. , the four Mile Run in Arlington and Fairfax counties, Va, and Boise River in Boise.