Why you should never flush animal poo down the loo as vet issues pet owners warning
Owning a pet can be great fun at times, but the moment they start squatting somewhere they shouldn't, all hell breaks loose.
With more and more people owning a pet in a flat these days, it can be hard to dispose of their waste when it's time for them to go for a number two, and I should know, given I've spent the last month picking up puppy poo.
It's a huge responsibility owning a pet and there are a huge amount of things you have to be wary of, especially right now with the heatwave posing a real risk to dogs who are taken out on walks when it's too hot.
But sometimes you have to think about your own health as well, and it turns out that plenty of pet owners, myself included, have been making the same mistake when it comes to poop, as a vet has warned about the dangers of flushing their poo down a toilet.
How many people flush pet poop down the toilet?
A study by water company United Utilities, which looked at sewer misuse in the Wirral and Congleton, found that between three and six percent of people had admitted to flushing pet waste down the toilet.
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This doesn't sound like a lot, but bear in mind not all of those people will have pets.
Look, the last thing we want is to have something smelly sticking around the house and I don't know about you, but it seems like far too much effort to take the bins down every time they go to the toilet.
But it's well worth that effort once you realise the downright disgusting threat that flushing your dog poo or cat litter down the loo can pose.
Why you should never flush dog or cat poop down the toilet?
Ben, a veterinary surgeon, hopped onto TikTok to explain why pet owners should avoid the toilet method at all costs.
He said: "This is because of the presence of toxocara, a worm parasite in animal faeces, which is tolerant to the high temperatures and harsh conditions found in the final stage of processing used water.
“The reason toxocara is a worry is because it’s zoonotic, we can pick it up and children are particularly susceptible.”
On top of that, people who flush dog poo bags down the loo risk causing blockages in sewers.
Water company Anglian Water writes: "Poo bags do not break down before they reach our systems, and can add to the already 40,000 blockages we have to deal with each year.
"Blockages are no fun for anybody, especially if they result in sewage not being able to get away, and instead coming back up and flooding into customers’ properties."
How dangerous can flushing pet poop down the toilet be?
Toxocara can have a nasty impact on our bodies, as if our dog or cat's poo contains worms, flushing them down the toilet means we are more likely to swallow the eggs [through the poo particles] which hatch into larvae and these move around inside our bodies.
Ben also says evidence supports links drawn between the parasite and reduced IQ and cognitive development if caught during childhood, so it's definitely something you want to avoid if you've got any young ones running around, as ChatGPT is already reducing their cognitive development more than enough.
However, the vet did go on to say it is 'thankfully rare' in the UK, and that worming your pet is the best way to prevent this from happening. So, we can all breathe a (slight) sigh of relief.
James Moorhouse