When the Chicago winter ice thaws we all know the “gift” lurking under the surface. It comes every year, it’s unsightly, and it smells bad. There is also more worry than stepping in one of these “gifts” with your shoes.
It’s easy to forget about the waste your dog leaves behind during the winter months in Chicagoland.
Rover loves the snow, so he spends more time than usual running, jumping, and showing the enthusiasm for winter that you haven’t had since you were young. Or maybe, little Fido is afraid of the strange, cold white cover, so he runs out and in faster than you can open and close the door.
Whether your dog loves or hates winter, nature still takes its course, and it’s important to keep that yard clean no matter the season. The cold, and the snow make it easy to forget the waste your dog leaves behind. The cold keeps the smell to a minimum, the snow covers the poop, and out of sight out of mind sounds good when it’s cold outside.
Winter may mask the unpleasant side, and smell of pet ownership, but it doesn’t eliminate the problem.
Even in the warmer months when your dog’s poop is visible, it accumulates at a rate much faster than it decomposes (and most clean it up). In Chicagoland alone, pets produce an estimated 647,462 lbs of poop a day! Factor in that most pet owners are less likely to clean up after their pets in cold weather, and you’ve got a serious problem when the snow melts. Dog poop contains parasites, viruses, and bacteria that are not destroyed by decomposition, or the cold.
The longer dog waste remains, even in the cold, it can fester, and is a danger to both you and your pets. Even as the snow melts, the parasites stay, and can end up in local water supplies.
Scoop Troop can help with your personal, and community winter (and year round!) dog waste cleanup. Let us help make your environment dog waste free!