Re: composting animal waste

Title: Re: composting animal waste
I asked a good friend here in the biology dept. at the U of MN if she had any opinions on this topic. She is also a cat and dog owner. She brings up some good points in addition to those already mentioned here on the list. Her response is as follows:

Gee, without looking anything up, I'd make a couple of guesses:

There certainly are parasites (worms and stuff, ick) that dogs and cats get that
can be transmitted to humans (which is why having your pet lick your face is not
considered a cool idea -- especially bad to have a pet lick the face of a very
young child). (Recall learning about zoonotic diseases in intro micro?) Having
your pet's poop checked for parasites is not just for them, it is for you. I
don't have the current list, but it is probably available on the web at one of
the free vet sites (e.g. see http://www.vetinfo.com/zoonose.html) since, if your
pet has that particular parasite, you usually get a handout from the vet
explaining what YOU need to do to find out if you are infected.

Second, since there are lots-o-pets in the neighborhood, having a garden full of
pet-parasites just increases the chance of transmission to other pets and
people. (We constantly had problems in Madison... we'd test and treat our pets
and some months later they'd be infected again. The vet said we must have some
untreated pets in the neighborhood. We have NEVER had any problems up here --
presumably because of treated pets.)

I am not sure what parasites of cows or pigs humans are susceptible to, I'm sure
there must be some. But a big difference may be:
1. There aren't cows and pigs around in the city to perpetuate the cycle (i.e.
get reinfected from compost)
2. Most people don't get uncomposted cow and pig manure... then compost it
themselves. Rather, they get already composted stuff... presumably done by
someone who actually knows what they are doing! So while many people may be
able to compost dog and cat stuff so it is safe to use, those that don't do it
right end up with hazardous compost. The general admonition not to use dog and
cat fecal compost is probably erring on the safe side (just like the "cook
turkey until it is done" is based on the possibility/probability that the turkey
you are handling is contaminated with Salmonella even though not all turkeys
are.)

Finally, of course, there are city ordinances. Whether they make sense or not,
there may be ordinances against using dog and cat feces in compost for gardens.
All of us, of course, only obey the good laws, like Eddie Ben Elson told us to
do. But, as you can tell from the discussion above, I suspect that there really
is good sense behind any ordinance not to use dog and cat poop compost.

How's that for an off the cuff, off the head, off the planet response?


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