This morning, on my daily walk to Pt. Dume, I encountered three dog owners walking their dogs on the headlands, where it is clearly marked “No Dogs”. I also saw two piles of dog poop. I have been dismayed by the lack of consideration of people who do not pick up after their pets at the Point, and on Westward Beach Road, which leads to the Point. I know if it happens here, it happens all over Malibu, and I know many people are as concerned about it as I am. Many pet owners might not know that The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deemed pet waste a “nonpoint source of pollution” in 1991, which put poop in the same category as oil and toxic chemicals!
The EPA even estimates that two or three days’ worth of droppings from a population of about 100 dogs would contribute enough bacteria to temporarily close a bay, and all watershed areas within 20 miles of it, to swimming and shell fishing.
The EPA discovered from a survey that 40 percent of the people who live in the area immediately surrounding the Chesapeake Bay, which experienced significant pollution throughout much of the 1990s, did not pick up after their dogs because it was “too much work.”
Others neglected to do so because they assumed it eventually goes away, or because the dog deposited the feces in an area far from the water, such as in the owner’s yard or in the woods.
For all of these reasons, the EPA states, “The reluctance of many residents to handle dog waste is the biggest limitation to controlling pet waste.”
So, in essence, the cycle begins and ends with you. In the instance of the Chesapeake Bay survey, 44 percent of dog walkers who did not pick up after their dogs indicated they would still refuse to pick up-even if confronted by complaints from neighbors, threatened with fines or provided with more sanitary and convenient options for retrieving and disposing of dog waste.
Lonnie Gordon