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Environmental and social impacts of domestic dog waste in the UK: Investigating barriers to behavioural change in dog walkers

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This study sought to investigate the behaviour and attitudes of dog walkers to picking up and disposing of dog foul, with a specific focus on bagged dog waste. Two research methods were utilised. The first explores locational and social factors influencing dog walkers' behaviour in picking up and disposing of dog faeces. Dog waste audits were conducted on popular dog walking paths in Lancashire. Secondly, the results were used to deliver an online national dog walking survey. Results of the audits suggested that availability of bins, path morphology, visibility, and path location are key factors in determining the occurrence of dog faeces. In the survey a key factor influencing behaviour was the belief that clearing up after dogs is the 'right thing to do' and this was associated with an awareness of health risks. Dog walker typologies are also proposed heuristically, ranging from those dog walkers that are 'proud to pick up' who will pick up in any location, through those who make contextual judgements about where and when it could be permissible to leave dog waste, to the 'disengaged' who will not pick up even if they are aware of the health and environmental consequences. The study advocates active engagement of dog walkers in tackling this contested, potentially environmentally damaging issue.
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... According to the results of the PRISMA, although most of the related studies ex plored both the pros and cons of dog parks and their design/management strategies, 9 ou of 26 studies [26,44,53,55,60,62,71,74] developed strategies in response to the pros and con of dog parks. Sixty-seven percent of these studies focused on hygiene issues, including dog waste, and solutions in dog parks [44,53,55,62,71,74]. ...
... According to the results of the PRISMA, although most of the related studies ex plored both the pros and cons of dog parks and their design/management strategies, 9 ou of 26 studies [26,44,53,55,60,62,71,74] developed strategies in response to the pros and con of dog parks. Sixty-seven percent of these studies focused on hygiene issues, including dog waste, and solutions in dog parks [44,53,55,62,71,74]. Other studies, while discussing the pros and cons of dog parks and the associated importance of considering the benefit and conflicts for the construction and management of a dog park, did not explicitly dis cuss design and/or management strategies in terms of the benefits and conflicts brough by dog parks. ...
... According to the results of the PRISMA, although most of the related studies explored both the pros and cons of dog parks and their design/management strategies, 9 out of 26 studies [26,44,53,55,60,62,71,74] developed strategies in response to the pros and cons of dog parks. Sixty-seven percent of these studies focused on hygiene issues, including dog waste, and solutions in dog parks [44,53,55,62,71,74]. ...
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... Another method that may encourage greater leashing of dogs around cattle may relate to strategies that encourage compliance with social norms or prosocial behaviour. Compliance with social norms can encourage owners to follow social guidelines (clean up their dog's faeces: Lowe et al., 2014; keep dogs on their leads: Williams et al., 2009). Giving visitors the impression that most dog owners keep their dogs on leads when visiting national parks (and especially when walking near cattle), and that doing so is an important aspect of responsible pet ownership may be of value (Oxley et al., 2017). ...
... This might be due to the increased awareness of their dogs defecating if they are on leash, or because of decreased sense of being observed by other park users when their dogs are unleashed (i.e. defecating dog is not in immediate proximity of its owner, a likely occurrence in off-leash park) thus feeling less social pressure to clean up after their dogs; a known factor contributing to fecal contamination 43 . Particular concern for park users may be that more dog feces were found near parking lots, leading to more exposure to people and dogs. ...
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... This might be due to the increased awareness of their dogs defecating if they are on leash, or because of decreased sense of being observed by other park users when their dogs are unleashed (i.e. defecating dog is not in immediate proximity of its owner, a likely occurrence in off-leash park) thus feeling less social pressure to clean up after their dogs; a known factor contributing to fecal contamination [37]. Particular concern for park users may be that more dog feces were found near parking lots, leading to more exposure to people and dogs. ...
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Contamination of public parks by dogs is a potential source of conflict among park users, causing “tragedy of commons” problems. Besides the social conflict, feces can pose serious health risks to both dogs and humans. In this study we analyzed the extent and patterns of the distribution of dog feces in the urban parks of the City of Calgary. We collected dog feces from randomly selected locations in the urban parks. The average density of dog feces by the different dog leash policies of the parks and the distribution pattern of the fecal density within the parks were assessed, and the total contamination of the public parks for the entire city was estimated. We found off-leash parks to be significantly more contaminated than other types of parks. We estimated 127.23 g / ha of dog feces are left unpicked in city parks in total every week. Dog feces were found more often and in greater amount in off-leash parks, and near park entrances and parking lots, than in on-leash parks and away from the park entrances. These results suggest that public park visitors, especially those visiting off-leash parks, are likely to be exposed to large amounts of dog feces. Designation of parks as on-leash and educating dog-owners may be an effective approach for reducing the fecal contamination.
... At the same time, dogs can cause fear and health risks to humans, including the transmission of diseases or pathogenic infections (Acosta-Jamett et al., 2010;De Keuster et al., 2006;Vertalka et al., 2018). Moreover, dog faeces are usually associated with reduced aesthetics of urban streetscapes and greenspaces (Cinquepalmi et al., 2013;Lowe et al., 2014). ...
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Dog walking is a highly popular leisure activity in cities around the globe. It is also a controversial issue for urban conservation and green space management due to presumed ecological impacts of dogs. Yet regulations allowing or prohibiting the presence of dogs in areas of conservation concern are rarely based on demonstrated effects of dogs on urban nature. To unravel the relationships between the presence of dogs at a site and soil features and plant and animal diversity, we selected dry grassland as our study system since this type of ecosystem is of conservation concern in many cities and is frequently used for dog walking. We combined data on the number and movement patterns of dogs and their owners in 52 dry grassland patches in Berlin, Germany, to create a novel index of dog presence and activity. We then analysed the relationship between the index and soil features, species richness of plants and seven invertebrate taxa, and abundances of sand lizards, a species of particular conservation interest. Generalised linear models revealed significant relationships between the dog index and one soil parameter and some biodiversity measures. The dog index was positively related to phosphorus and nonnative plant richness but negatively to spider diversity. While dogs may facilitate biological invasions, likely through a combination of eutrophication and disturbance, overall relationships with general species richness or richness of endangered plant or animal species were weak. These results indicate opportunities for reconciling urban nature conservation with moderate dog walking in urban grassland areas. Still, urban policies should consider remaining dog-related risks in other ecosystem types - a promising direction for further urban research.
... Additionally, such fungi are continuously providing the ecosystem service of ridding the antroposphere from an, ever increasing, global amount of pet excrement. The increasing amounts of pet dung accumulated in urban situations is now regarded to represent a relevant environmental problem [34] and a significant health issue [35]. Studying such fungi necessarily starts with their identification and, when needed, naming and describing new fungal taxa. ...
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