The van Bakeren Foundation supports research and communication between vets and human medical professionals to advance both animal and human medicine. So when its Executive Director spoke out on our PUP campaign, we had to share: 

I just love the Pick Up Poop Campaign. I realize that sounds a little strange. We at The van Bakeren Foundation are just as concerned about dog poop as the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. We just have more concerns.

We're certainly concerned about poop contaminating our water because of the nasty bacteria that can live in it, but we're also concerned about parasite eggs that can be found in dog poop, like roundworms. We're also concerned about poop from other animals, like cats and raccoons, to name a few others.
 
Why are we concerned? Because while these parasites can harm animals, they can also harm children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people who are on chemotherapy drugs that can damage their immune system that ordinarily helps them fight off infections, much like nasty strains of bacteria. That just opens up a whole can of worms right there. Pun fully intended.
 
So we want to make sure that people pick up after their dogs and put it in the trash, but we also want to make sure people don't flush used kitty litter down the toilet. There's not much we can do about poop from raccoons other than to try to keep them away from our homes and our sewer systems.

Dr. Anna M. van Heeckeren, MS, DVM
Executive Director
The van Bakeren Foundation
http://www.vanbakerenfoundation.org

You'll see our latest PUP ads at the Greater Cleveland RTA's Shaker Square station. And if you're a bus rider, you may also see a few PUP ads traveling the downtown Cleveland area, so we'd love a pic if you can snap one.

PUP pledger Tabitha recently left us a comment:

I just heard your commercial on the radio and LOVE it! So clever and catchy! Please post a link so I can share it with my friends! :)

Gladly. Share away, Tabitha.

We're proud to support Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Scoop on Poop event going on now through September: As their site promotes, the zoo "takes a tactful approach to the topic, using both science and humor." And we love their new radio spot. Poop jokes. Always funny.

We've had a few visitors ask how it's any better to pick up dog poop and pitch the bag: "Isn't that still garbage in a landfill?" The answer to that question is yes, but it eliminates the direct contribution of bacteria to local waterways (not to mention, it's simply the polite thing to do when walking your dog around the neighborhood). And biodegradable bags help the situation further.

But besides bagging, there are even more eco-friendly options.

Another friend sent us a post about in-ground pet waste composters. You can find a slew of them with a quick Google search. And our pals at Green City Blue Lake have a post in their archives regarding the same subject, including how to create a composter of your own.

One of our Twitter followers @fourgreenis received their PUP yard sign today. Thanks for posting. You can request your own on our PUP Stuff page.

We're all about being green, but there's some green we just won't take here in Cleveland: If you're headed to The Q for tonight's Cleveland Cavaliers playoff matchup with the Boston Celtics, you might see this PUP campaign video during a timeout or two. Special thanks to Cavs mascot Moondog and the Cavs PR department. Love. It.

Thanks to our newest friends in Georgia, North Carolina, California (Long Beach and Culver City), and Nevada (Las Vegas and North Las Vegas) for taking the PUP Pledge. Courtesy and cleanliness are good rules of thumb across the country.

After our first official week, PUP's a hit, and its apparent popularity extends beyond the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District's service area, and even Ohio's borders. We'll be sending our PUP Pledge bandannas to far-away places such as Pennsylvania, Florida, Missouri, even Toronto. If you've taken the plegde, be patient as we do our envelope stuffing next week.