Comments on Crunchy Chicken: Pet poop disposal

I flush my dog's poops down the toilet with a flus...

2009-05-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

I flush my dog's poops down the toilet with a flushable doggy waste bag. Most eco-friendly way to get ride of poops.

The company is called Flush Doggy.

There are flushable dog poop bags. The best answer probably because dog poop can get treated just as your poop is.

FlushDoggy, is a fully biodegradable, flushable(water soluble) dog waste bag that is very eco-friendly. Dog doodies are best to be flushed down the toilet and degrade naturally , just as our own doodies. Stop destroying our earth and start educating the public, one poop at a time. Be a responsible owner and go green for our pets.

http://flushdoggy.com and get a FREE SAMPLE TO TRY !

I suspect the doggie waste bags may be made somewh...

2008-11-08T18:01:00.000-08:00

I suspect the doggie waste bags may be made somewhat differently from regular biodegadable bags - I have noticed that if I leave the bag on the front step for a couple hours, it more often than not breaks out the bottom (and I'm not putting wet stuff in there!)

speaking of sealed in, even if you toss the poo in...

2008-11-08T17:58:00.000-08:00

speaking of sealed in, even if you toss the poo in a compostable/biodegradable bag, it won't receive enough oxygen to break down if it ends up in a landfill. same goes for all the biodegradable trash bags...

i think it's still better than tossing the poo in a plastic bag, but... maybe toss 'em in a different container for a while before sending it off to the city dump?

Please remember that your backyard is still part o...

2008-11-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

Please remember that your backyard is still part of the watershed. When you leave your pet waste on the ground, it does start to break down...and the water takes all that nasty bacteria and stuff with it when it washes across your yard, onto the streets, into streams or into the street sewer, and both of those lead to the next biggest body of water near you. Puget Sound for us. It's actually a pretty big problem. So big, the City of Everett pays me to go to elementary schools all over Snohomish county to teach kids about picking up after their pet.

Here's some interesting information My favorite quote is: Pet crap in Snohomish County equals the human waste from a city of 32,000.

Snohomish County advocates throwing it in the trash so that it will go to the landfill where it will be sealed in.

About that toxoplasma, we had our housecats tested...

2008-11-05T22:47:00.000-08:00

About that toxoplasma, we had our housecats tested for toxoplasma gondii at the vet. They tested negative. And since they never go outside where they would pick up the parasite, we feel fine flushing their poop. We use either World's Best Cat Litter (which comes in a plastic bag, unfortunately) or SwheatScoop which comes in a paper bag but doesn't work as well.

I have three cats, and I found that pine shavings ...

2008-11-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

I have three cats, and I found that pine shavings are the cheapest compostable litter, as well as the best in keeping odor down, and they love it. I normally flush their poops and compost the wet stuff, but I've composted the poops as well and they do break down and they don't smell in the composter. My sister using the doggy dooly for her dog's waste...works great.

I've read studies online that worms eliminate all bad toxins and microorganisms in anything they consume, although I think I'd dedicate one specific worm bin just for the cat poops. They also need the poops to be somewhat composted already, beginning to break down, although I've had good luck with just putting them straight into the bin. You don't want to put pee in the bin though...the ammonia will kill the worms.

Ok, that may be more than anyone wanted to know!!!!

This was something I never found a good solution t...

2008-11-03T05:56:00.000-08:00

This was something I never found a good solution to when we lived in town. The cost of the pet composters was prohibitive, and neither flushing it or throwing it out seemed like a good option either. Now we live farther out & have plenty of our own land (well, land we rent and nobody else is likely to be walking on anyway) around us, and the yard's always full of goose poop (in the summer) anyway, so just leaving it where it is works fine and seems to biodegrade back into the ground quite quickly.

Most of the time I just leave it where it's deposi...

2008-11-03T05:45:00.000-08:00

Most of the time I just leave it where it's deposited....which is on my own property. But, other times, I'm ashamed to say, I pick it up with a plastic bag and put it in an outdoor trash barrel.

Thanks for making me aware of this (I don't know why I wasn't before). From now on I'll pick it up in a paper bag.

We used to pick our dog's poo and wrap it in newsp...

2008-11-02T23:31:00.000-08:00

We used to pick our dog's poo and wrap it in newspaper, then throw it in the rubbish bin.

The thing about this question is that it really ma...

2008-11-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

The thing about this question is that it really matters where you are and what kind of waste removal you have - our trash all goes to an incinerator. Some people's trash goes to modern, methane-collecting, nonleaky landfills. Some people's goes to landfills that pollute the groundwater. Some people burn all their non-compostables in a barrel in the backyard, still.

Some of us live in places where solid waste from the sewer gets turned into fertilizer; some of us (me, and I think the SF folks too) run the risk of our waste going directly into a local body of water because of combined sewers that haven't been fully revamped.

I think this is one of those things where the green answer is dependent on knowing the specifics of the situation, instead of relying on a general rule.

I just wanted to chime in here and say that I am l...

2008-11-02T20:30:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to chime in here and say that I am learning so much about all your pet poop habits.

Since I never have had cats I didn't really give much thought to their "special" poop requirements.

And I've never seen bear poop, let alone had it in my yard. There really are huge distinctions that need to be made based on urban vs. rural pet poop disposal.

Thanks for all your comments! Keep 'em coming...

I'm just shocked that so many people admit to thro...

2008-11-02T20:14:00.000-08:00

I'm just shocked that so many people admit to throwing the poop in the landfill in PLASTIC BAGS! What are you DOING?!? Mummifying cat/dog poop?

EWWWW!

That bothered me for a long time - I found what I think is a pretty good compromise since I cannot flush cat waste here (goes to the ocean, sea otters die from toxoplasms):

1- bio bags
2- world's best cat litter

Clay litter is a bad thing - bentonite clay mined for cat litter results in the removal of mountain tops - put cat poop and clay into a plastic bag and you have mummified bricks of earth and feces forever in the landfill. Yuck.

Sadly, the plant based cat litters are both expensive AND come in big plastic bags. Oakland and Berkeley do not accept recycle plastic bags of any sort in our recycling bins (even if they have a recycle symbol on them).

Since the only thing I put in the trash can is cat poop in bio bags and non-recyclable plastic, I don't have to use trash bags.

I would put it in a hole in the yard but the landlord has a dog and it wouldn't last very long.

I just *wish* I could end up sterilized by toxoplasms but... alas, my cats don't eat wild animals or raw meat so the likelihood of that is nearly nil.

The chance of getting poisoned by toxoplasms from an indoor cat is far lower than the risk presented by digging in the soil without gloves or eating a rare steak.

Bio-fuel...

Imagine the methane potential.....

2008-11-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

Bio-fuel...

Imagine the methane potential..., who needs foreign oil... the new poop powered revolution.

I picked compost it- My mom used to have a Doggy D...

2008-11-02T16:42:00.000-08:00

I picked compost it- My mom used to have a Doggy Dooley system. She paid top dollar for it- I was watching "Grenovate" on Planet Green and a guy showed how to make your own - essentially it is a septic tank for pet poop. Remember if you compost pet poop(dog and kitty) in a regular composter- their poo is known to carry bacteria and awful things to humans so use the compost for flowers and ornamentals only. The reason cow and horse manure doesn't have the same rules is they are herbivores, and for cows they have 4 stomaches to aide in their digestion,Here is a video on making your own dooley the only thing he seemed to leave out is make sure to drill a number of holes on the can before burying it.

Sorry, I was being repetitive--Lae21 said the same...

2008-11-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I was being repetitive--Lae21 said the same thing!
Here's another link:
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/oa/web/ActionAlertDetails.aspx?enc=XVOw36hELSyJE967qbxm6A==

Do not flush cat poop! There is some kind of bacte...

2008-11-02T15:39:00.000-08:00

Do not flush cat poop! There is some kind of bacteria in the poop that is bad for otters (a problem here in the SF bay area).

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1538645,00.html

We live on a small farm out in the sticks...we tra...

2008-11-02T15:26:00.000-08:00

We live on a small farm out in the sticks...we trained the dog to go outside the center 2 acres...and we compost the livestock poo into rotating bins...flushing pets poo? I am glad that I live out here.

One of the companies that sells worm farms here in...

2008-11-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

One of the companies that sells worm farms here in NZ recommends a separate small worm farm for your dog poop. They say they are not 100% sure all the nasty bacteria is dealt with so recommend you use that fertilizer for the flower garden rather than vegetables. You can get biodegradable dog poop bags too so I suppose the whole thing could go in there.

As a vet tech I have to second greenpa's warni...

2008-11-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

As a vet tech I have to second greenpa's warning about toxoplasmosis. Perhaps even more importantly, please be aware of hookworms and roundworms. These are very common intestinal parasites, especially in dogs, and they are contagious to people (i.e. zoonotic). 99% of puppies are born with roundworms and they usually remain until proper and routine deworming.

If anyone, especially children, walk barefoot in the area where your dog poops hooks & rounds can migrate into the skin. There are cases where they have traveled up behind the eye and caused blindness in children.

I suggest asking your vet about zoonotic parasites if he/she hasn't already discussed risks with you. Depending on your area, routine fecal exams and/or using certain heartworm preventatives or other dewormers can help alleviate these risks.

As for our 3 dogs we usually leave their stool where it is deposited. It usually dries out enough that when we mow the lawn it spreads out and breaks down quickly. I haven't noticed a smell, but then again it is a farm. :)

I'm comfortable with our routine because they are all on monthly heartworm preventative/dewormer and I test fecal samples regularly. I'm sure we'll have to change things when kiddos come along.

We pick up our dog's poo infrequently, then bury i...

2008-11-02T12:48:00.000-08:00

We pick up our dog's poo infrequently, then bury it. I do have a confession to make though... A certain someone's little dog always poos in our front or side yard (our house is on the corner), and I scoop it up and put it on the sidewalk... it's always gone a day or two later... especially if the certain someone walks along that section of the sidewalk in that time... I'm just tired of walking to my garden and seeing piles of dog poo that don't belong to my dog. I know I should just pick it up and bury it with Jessi's... but it's the closest I can get to flinging it at someone... :-P

I've got two dogs who poo on command, so I put bot...

2008-11-02T11:25:00.000-08:00

I've got two dogs who poo on command, so I put both poos in one compostable bag. :)

I don't worry too much about toxoplasmosis in ...

2008-11-02T11:15:00.000-08:00

I don't worry too much about toxoplasmosis in the compost because the feral cats poop & pee all over - our housecats are hardly going to make a difference.

We composted for several years, and it worked really well - after 3 years, we had nice black dirt in what had been an undiggable, impenetrable stick pile. The swheat scoop & cat pee made it compost really hot - steaming even in winter, the way our mouldering food compost pile never does - and completely dissolved elm, pine & mulberry sticks more than an inch in diameter.

But it smelled bad at a distance of about 5 feet, every time it rained. In a big suburban or rural lot that wouldn't be a problem at all. Here, there's no part of our back yard that's more than 5 feet from our house or the property line, and if we protected the heap from getting wet, it didn't compost.

So we're back to tossing it, which means double plastic bags - the gargabe hauler specifically requests that and I figure whoever has to haul the poop gets to decide how it's packaged.

We have a large dog and a small yard :( We usuall...

2008-11-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

We have a large dog and a small yard :( We usually bury it in a pit under the tree- I guess like layered composting but we don't dig it back out. Although last winter when we didn't see the ground from Thanksgiving until March we periodically collected it in the old birdseed bags and tossed it in the garbage, I hated to do it but it got to be a bit much.

From what I've read, composting is tricky, because...

2008-11-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

From what I've read, composting is tricky, because if you don't know what you are doing, you can end up contracting diseases. If you flush cat poop, the toxoplasmosis that may be present in their feces can contaminate the water and impact other mammals. The best option I've ever seen is the doggie septic system.

EJ - about the bear poop-

If you're looking...

2008-11-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

EJ - about the bear poop-

If you're looking for a new source of income- you might be able to just bag it up- and sell it.

ok, quit laughing. Really! Eons ago, I was walking with a friend in the Washington woods- when we came across a great big fresh pile. I still tease him about it. He had a brand new ball-cap on- and he immediately took it off, and started filling it with the bear poop.

Slightly special circumstances; of course. He was a nurseryman, with an established mailorder business. And one of the things he sold was "bear fodder" plants- which he got by lining out bear poop in the nursery. Whatever came up was what the bears were eating, of course.

According to him, that one good pile of bear poop would generate over $500 worth of plants.

Depending how good a salesperson you are- you might be able to sell it wildlife enthusiasts; do-it-yourself bear fodder seed.

:-) just a thought.