There’s a short article in the Chicagoland Tails magazine this month ‘Planet Poop: Composting your Pet’s Waste‘. But more interesting is this comment:
I looked into composting dog feces both for my own pooch and for the dog daycare where I work recently. I was told, and confirmed with the city’s Department of Rodent Control, that composting dog feces within Chicago’s city limits is illegal, as it attracts rats.
I wonder if this might be an issue worth revisiting.
Looking into this further, there’s an interesting comment at WikiAnswers – somebody (unfortunately anonymous) actually tested the idea and has something to say:
More on rats – you have to see the sign first:
(c) clarkmaxwell
Then go read this post at Havealittletalk’s Blog. It’s awesome.
Ha ha ha!
I always found the claim that dog poo attracts rats a little suspicious. For instance, in my part of the South Loop, I have observed quite a population of rats, as well as an abundant population of orphan poo. You’d think if all these rats liked to eat poo, we wouldn’t have a poo problem, since the rats would be eating the poo, but here these orphan poos remain, untouched, in the grass, without so much as a nibble from the rats.
Exactly. Do rats ‘clean their plates’??
Do rats like a plate of tasty poo? It’s repeated so often, you’d think it must be true…
But you’d also think we’d see a bunch of nibbled-on orphan poos lying around, if they were so very very tasty.
Ever seen a half-nibbled poo? Me neither. But we’ll keep looking…
There is a company in Ithaca NY — Cayuga Compost — that picks up dog waste from local dog parks and DOES compost it. It’s used as a soil amendment by some people. Done carefully, all animal waste can be composted. It’s a little difficult to get most folks on board with the idea, but the actual process is doo-able.