It is illegal to leave or not dispose of dog-faeces.
Dog walkers can even be fined by council dog patrols for not carrying a dog poo bag.
I would encourage people to remind anyone (politely) they see not picking up their dog’s poo, even if you are ignored or told off, as I have been.
Apart from being considerate to others using the same area, dog poo can be a health hazard by spreading bacteria like e coli, parasites like hook worm and viruses like parvo which can live in soil for a year.
I used to think most dogs in Australia would be wormed and vaccinated (or over-vaccinated), but after working in a couple of rescue centres that is not the case.
Whole litters of puppies surrendered or rescued sometimes have parvovirus or distemper, they need to be isolated and treated which is very expensive and dog poo is the primary way of contracting these diseases.
Those two diseases also have high fatality rates.
For dog owners who want to avoid vaccination, there is titre testing, which measures blood antibodies and disease resistance, except for kennel cough which has seven strains.
The other problem of dog poo is environmental; it can pollute local waterways as rain and runoff carries the excessive nitrogen and phosphorus which can kill native plants.
The over fertilisation allows fast growing, opportunistic weeds to thrive and crowd out native flora while it allows oxygen depleting algal blooms to smother waterways.
Infective dog faeces can be deadly to native mammals, sea birds and aquatic life.
I am looking into my own dog poo compost bin using compostable bags (green bags, some are already at Eagle heights mini dog park).
Tumbleweed compost bins are available from hardware stores and there are smaller and less expensive ones available online.
The castings are great for ornamental, potted and decorative plants, natives and hedges.
The castings should not be used on edible plants and only on the outer area of fruit trees because it may contain harmful pathogens and parasites.
If a dog has been treated for worms wait at least two weeks before composting because it will kill earth worms.
