Americans have not always been so concerned about cleaning up after their animal friends. Until recent times, people would let their doggies do their thing, and then left the doo on the streets, sidewalks, and often a neighbor's lawn. A small number of diligent citizens did make an extra effort to curb their dogs. However, the exercise of pooping in the street is not proper etiquette either.

As an aide to a town official I have tried on several occasions to help residents who have been burdened by this nuisance, but things always appear different when it happens to you personally. I began giving much thought to this issue when someone and their dog were using my well-groomed lawn as the curbing spot. Then a few weeks ago when we had an unusually warm day my neighbor was outside playing with his three kids and his 2-year-old daughter who tumbled into a pile of doggy doo. It was traumatic for the kid and for my neighbor who used to be a janitor where his work habits have made him a neat freak. I only moved to a new neighborhood a few months ago and now I have the whole block obsessed with trying to catch the dog owner in action without a pooper scooper.

In the educational reference book Housetraining for Dummies, "curbing the" dog is the respectful phrase for a dog waste disposal method that the authors' say rightly ought to be labeled the "Shove-it-into-the-Sewer approach." Basically what many of us dog owners do is teach the dog not to poop in the house or on the front lawn, but in the street or by the curb so that the next rainstorm can send the nasty droppings into the nearby gutter. Many think that once in the gutter, the poop and other waste wind their way through the local sewer system and get treated. Actually, it eventually winds up in nearby creeks, streams, rivers, and judging by my column last week you should have guessed the final destination is the bay.

Town of Oyster Bay Councilman Joe Muscarella recently sent out a press release stating that there are four good reasons you should clean up after your dog: it is illegal not to in the Town of Oyster Bay, it is hazardous to human health, it is a nuisance to your community, and it pollutes our drinking water and our bays. The press release also noted that in May 1977, the Oyster Bay Town Board adopted an ordinance, Section 103-5, nicknamed the "pooper scooper law." The law required residents to clean up after their dogs if they curb them or use any land other than their own without permission from the landowner. The law was adopted because of the aesthetic and not-so-neighborly nuisance it causes. It was also approved because of pollution and health dangers that were even known over 25 years ago.

The US Environmental Protection Agency says pet waste is a significant cause of water contamination in neighborhoods where there are high records of dogs. In the Town of Oyster Bay there are about 4,000 licensed recorded dogs, and probably many more that are not recorded. With every rainstorm a large amount of "curbed" dog waste is carried into the groundwater, the only source of drinking water on Long Island, either through municipal and private sumps or recharge basins that act like sinks collecting water to replenish our groundwater supply.

At the groundwater level the nitrogen contents of the dog waste then contaminate the drinking water. This stuff that winds up in our bays is actually worse for us than what winds up in the drinking water because it never has the chance of getting treated by the water or sewer districts. At this point you might be thinking about not swimming in the bay this summer. Unfortunately, avoiding the beach and continuing to conveniently let the doo go down the drain does not solve the problem. The way that the polluted matter breaks down makes use of the dissolved oxygen that our marine life and wildlife need to live. You may still think no big deal I just won't eat any of the contaminated fish and continue to let the doo go down the drain. What actually would still occur is that increased levels of ammonia in the water along with accelerated algae and weed growth leads to cloudy and dark water that will have offensive stench and further deterioration of our beautiful habitat.

If you're still not convinced that you or someone you know is posing a serious danger to the environment or to human health by curbing then consider the following. Dog waste has a wealth of unsafe bacteria that can and does make people ill. In humans the bacteria can trigger gastrointestinal infections, as well as infections to the ear, eye, and throat. It can also cause illnesses that trigger fever, muscle aches, headache, and vomiting. Okay, now that you might be thoroughly grossed out I have to remind you of my adorable and innocent 2-year-old neighbor and the father whose day was ruined by germ-ridden doggy doo.

For more information about local boating or environmental issues please contact me at 922-0555 or JaimeVanDyke@gmail.com. Please also visit www.sagamoreyc.com or look up SagamoreRacing on Yahoo!Groups on the web.