Introduction Dan Tully Sales Representative Practica Ltd. - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Introduction

• Dan Tully – Sales Representative
• Practica Ltd. – Providers of dog bag dispensers,

bags, and waste bins to municipalities and property managers

• Established in 2000

Dog Waste Dilemma - Not Just A Nuisance

• Environmental Issues
• Health Concerns
• Waste Management Challenge

Why don’t people pick up after their pets?

Defining The Problem

Four contributing factors:

Increasing Dog Population Volume of Waste Produced by Dogs Composition of Dog Waste Where to put it all?

39% over 4 years 2014 5.9 million dogs

32% of Canadian households

2018 8.2 million dogs

41% of Canadian households

*Dog population estimates from Canadian Animal Health Institute

Comparing dog population to wildlife populations: MNR estimates Ontario deer population to be approx. 400,000 Estimated deer population in New Brunswick 75,000 - 100,000

Factor 1 – Increasing Dog Population

Factor 2 – Volume of Dog Waste

• One dog produces an average of

0.75 lbs of waste per day

• Waste per dog per year = 0.75 x

365 = 275 lbs per year

• Total waste per day = 0.75 x 8.2

million = 6,150,000 lbs per day

• Total per year = 0.75 x 8.2 mil x

365 = 2,244,750,000 lbs per year

Factor 3 – Composition of Dog Waste

• Diet & stomach enzymes of dogs are

different than those of wild animals

• Dog waste has extremely high levels of

bacteria, nitrogen and phosphorus

• Excess of these nutrients in urban runoff

contributes to the growth of algae blooms and depleting oxygen levels in our waterways

• Studies of some urban watersheds have

been able to trace back as much as 30% of all bacteria to runoff from dog waste Isn’t poop, just poop? What makes dogs so different?

Factor 3 – Composition of Dog Waste

• Bacteria, pathogens and parasites also cause their own problem

because they can lead to illness in both humans and other dogs

• Dog waste is one of the most common carriers of the following:
• Whipworms
• Hookworms
• Roundworms
• Tapeworms
• Parvovirus
• Coronavirus
• Giardiasis
• Salmonellosis
• Cryptosporidiosis
• Campylobacteriosis
• The EPA estimates that two, or three days worth of droppings from

100 dogs would contribute enough bacteria to temporarily close all watershed areas within 20 miles to swimming and shell fishing

Factor 3 – Composition of Dog Waste

• Wild animals are consuming resources

and nutrients from local ecosystems

• Researchers at Rocky Mountain National

Park in Colorado mixed bear scat with soil, and planted in their greenhouse

• Resulted in over 1,200 Oregon-grape

and Chokecherry seedlings

• Digestive system of bear helped break

down tough outer coating of seeds; greatly increasing odds that seeds would germinate So how is the waste of wild animals different from dogs?

Factor 4 – The Waste Management Challenge

The disposal of dog waste presents multiple challenges:

• Landfills – They’re getting full and we need to

divert what we can

• Contamination of recycling – Some municipal

waste audits found that as much as 97% of park recycling containers were contaminated by dog waste

• Labour cost of emptying garbage containers –

Waste audits of public park garbage containers in some municipalities have revealed that as much as 40%-80% of the waste deposited is dog waste

Exploring Solutions and Meeting Challenges

Step 1 Getting the Waste

• ff the Ground

Step 2 A Better Disposal Solution Step 3 Finding the Funding

• Some surveys have shown that as many as

40% of dog owners do not pick up after their dogs

• The most effective way to change this trend is

to use a combination of public education, dog waste bag dispensers, and the enforcement of by-laws

• In Winnipeg, the Kilcona Dog Park Association

conducted a pilot project to determine the effectiveness of pick-up bag dispensers

Exploring Solutions: Step 1 – Getting The Waste Off The Ground

Exploring Solutions: Step 1 – The Kilcona Pilot Project Results

• KPDC’s Board of Directors did not receive a single

complaint about unclaimed dog waste at Kilcona

• The park foreman confirmed on several occasions

the he and his staff perceived the entire park to be cleaner than it had been in the past, and attributed the change to the bag dispensers

• At the 2016 spring and fall cleanups, volunteers

barely managed to collect two litter baskets of garbage and dog waste on each occasion The results of the pilot project in Winnipeg were very clear. Bag dispensers work!

Exploring Solutions: Step 1 – The Kilcona Pilot Project Results

The Kilcona Dog Park Association conducted a survey following the completion of the pilot project and were very pleased with the results

• 85% of respondents reported they pick up after their dogs

all the time and 14% picked up most of the time. Only 1% reported picking up sometimes.

• 71% of respondents perceived that people were doing a

better job of picking up after their dogs

• 85% of respondents brought their own bags, relying on

the dispensers only in an emergency

• 57% of respondents believed that the light-hearted Poop

Fairy signs were effective in encouraging people to pick up after their dogs.

Exploring Solutions: Step 2 – Proper Disposal

Landfills are filling up, and dog waste is environmentally problematic for landfills. Three Potential Solutions

Incineration Composting Anaerobic Digestion

Exploring Solutions: Step 2 – Proper Disposal

Incineration Large scale incinerators provide the ability to turn waste into energy while producing very little harmful emissions Challenges

• On a national level, there are very few

industrial incinerators operating in Canada

• While dog waste itself makes for excellent

burning fuel, not all facilities in Canada are able or willing to accept the plastic bags used to pick up the waste

Exploring Solutions: Step 2 – Proper Disposal

Composting Given the proper treatment and conditions, dog waste makes for great compost material Challenges

• Not all composting facilities are created equal

– some may be able to process dog waste,

• thers cannot
• Not all dog waste bags on the market are

compostable

• Dog waste would still need to be segregated

from other types of waste

Exploring Solutions: Step 2 – Proper Disposal

Anaerobic Digestion

• Anaerobic digestion provides the
• pportunity to turn dog waste into

energy

• Organic waste that is placed in the

digester is processed by being heated and stirred in an oxygen free environment

• This process creates bio-gas, which is

then used to create electricity and heat

• The best part about anaerobic digestion

is that it is a viable option right now!

Exploring Solutions: Step 2 – Proper Disposal

Anaerobic Digestion (con’t)

• Sutera has created an in-ground waste container,

specifically designed for the collection of dog waste

• Due to the design of the unit, segregating dog waste

from other waste is not an issue

• The unit is emptied by a vacuum truck, eliminating

the need for staff to lift heavy bags of dog waste

• These units can also be effective in reducing the

contamination of recycling containers as park users become more aware of their purpose

Exploring Solutions: Step 3 – Finding Funding

How do we generate the funds?

• Advertising on dispensers
• Getting creative with dog

licenses

• Allowing volunteers to help

maintain and re-fill dispensers

Exploring Solutions: Step 3 – Finding Funding

Advertising on dispensers Potential sponsors include any local business that would like to ingratiate themselves to local dog owners while also making a contribution to the community

• Veterinarians
• Real Estate Agents
• Pet Supply Providers
• Dog Walkers

With 10 units being sponsored it is possible to collect up to $2000, which would be very close to the initial cost, and likely more than the on-going cost

Exploring Solutions: Step 3 – Finding Funding

Getting Creative with Dog Licences

• Adding $1 or $2 to annual dog license fees, and re-directing the

additional revenue, in yet another way to provide funding

• By selling a total of 2,000 dog licences with at a slightly higher cost, a

municipality could generate an additional $4,000

• The money that is regularly collected from license fees is normally

directed to animal services, which would still happen, but the additional revenue could be passed along to parks (if needed)

Exploring Solutions: Step 3 – Finding Funding

Volunteers

• Many of our current

customers use local volunteer groups to help with keeping an eye on stock levels of bags, and with re-filling dispensers

• Local dog park

associations or park groups are great for this, and are often more than willing to help, in order to improve the parks

Exploring Solutions: Step 3 – Finding Funding

ROI Created Through Waste Diversion and Environmental Benefits

• By segregating and diverting dog waste, it becomes

possible to divert 40-80% of the waste that is deposited in parks

• With recycling containers no longer suffering from

staggering rates of contamination, municipalities can save

• n the costs associated with sorting and contamination

issues

Thank You