Dog fouling.DNA base is being developed.

HOW DANGEROUS IS DOG MUCK?

Dog faeces is the scourge of parks and pavements, and figures suggest that 1,000 tonnes of poo is created each day in the UK alone.

In addition to looking and smelling terrible, the faecal matter can harbour antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli and parasites - which, when left on the ground, can seep into sewers, rivers and the sea.

And now scientists have developed a new genetic test to figure out the extent to which dogs are spreading this bacteria through our waterways.

In the journal Environmental Science and Technology, Orin Shanks and his colleagues said waterways are susceptible to many sources of faecal contamination, including sewage leaks and droppings from farm animals and wildlife. 

Scientists have also found that sand on beaches can contain up to 100 times as much faecal matter than there is in the water. 

This is because microbial communities tend to decay much slower on beach sand than in the water.

Above is taken from an article in the Daily Mail.

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