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Originally Posted by Cotham Marble Personally I'd regard any non working domestic animal as a pollution source and would avoid it's acquisition in the first place. |
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Originally Posted by Gelert  Well my dogs are working dogs so don't fall into your category do they? |
It’s not so much ‘my’ category, as an attempt to accurately identify the nature of the problem for which a solution is being sought. Just because a domestic animal is a living thing does not mean that it is reasonable to give it an equivalence of an entity separate from the owner. The pollution caused by a pet is pollution caused by the owner, and the best resolution of any pollution problem is where ever possible the removal of the source. My choice in the case of animal ownership is to go for zero emission and it is that solution that I would recommend to anyone else.
The management of domestic animal faeces is a major health issue, both Toxocara canis and Toxocara catis are sources of toxocariasis, and although rare in the UK it can cause very serious illness, likewise toxoplasmosis, an infection largely related to cats. Other infections from pet faeces include E.coli and salmonella, again illnesses that can have serious repercussions. Despite pets being a vector of serious illness, compared to the approach towards Rats as a vector for leptospirosis, there seems an unquestioned acceptance that pet borne disease is an accepted risk we should all take without question. I don’t accept that position – so I’m putting the question up for debate.
Home digesters and composters may be a more responsible approach to managing pet faeces, however increased use of these systems will see increased ‘failures’. Certainly if the level of failure of garden and kitchen waste composting (flies, rats, stench) as evidenced by innumerable disused plastic ‘daleks’, is anything to go by, misused faecal digesters and composters will become a significant public health issue.
None of us want to give up our cherished but polluting ownerships and activities – whether it’s foreign holidays, gas guzzling vehicles, food consuming and faecal producing pets, or even green gardening purchasing of plants – but just because it’s cherished, the activity, what ever it is, can’t be immune from serious analysis of its environmental harm.
CM