It doesn’t matter what kind of pet you have, inevitably you’ll need to clean up after them. Whether it’s emptying the litter box, dumping the hamster cage, or walking behind them with a few baggies, it’s all up to you. It may not seem like a huge deal when you’re living in a single-family house nestled snugly into a suburban neighborhood, but if you’re one of the many people who live in a community such as an apartment building or a condo association it’s a much bigger concern. People residing in communities usually share the same small green space so even one resident neglecting their pets’ waste can ruin it for everyone.
According to a 2019/2020 survey conducted by the APPA about 67% of American households have a pet. More than half of those pets are dogs. Apply that figure to community living and you’ve got 6 out of every 10 units with at least one pet. For a 50 unit building that equates to a minimum of 33 households worth of pet waste discarded daily. That’s 33 doody bags per day in the pet waste station or placed directly into the dumpster. And that’s a conservative estimate because many dogs go multiple times per day!
Here are some important reasons for residents and staff to maintain the pet areas within your building and community:
Aesthetics and Common Courtesy
Community living means you take special care to be considerate of those living in your building or association. There is typically one green space or walking path shared by all and picking up after Fido is important. Dog waste ruins lawns, it smells, and no one wants to step in it. If you’re walking through the area multiple times per day you want to enjoy the outdoor time, not spend all of it avoiding landmines or covering your nose. Frequently communities with outdoor pet areas offer dog walking stations where you can dispose of dog feces in a conveniently placed trash can making clean up easy.
Health Issues and Water Quality
Emptying pet stations and dumpsters on a regular basis is important, but what about having receptacles cleaned periodically? Every bag won’t be tied tightly or thrown away carefully. The bags rip and tear allowing all sorts of disgusting goodies to leak out. All that excrement has bacteria and parasites. People and other animals can easily become ill. And when it rains everything is washed right down into the soil and across the sidewalks. High amounts of excrement seeping into the groundwater should always be avoided when possible. Spraying the pet stations and dumpsters can help control the spread of bacteria and eliminate those parasites. It will also contribute to a cleaner and fresher smelling green space and garbage corral and reduce the overall amount of excrement absorbing into the ground and the sewers.
Allergens and Odors
Although many people may not consider it, pet hair is part of the waste produced by animals. Whether it’s from brushing and grooming or the emptying of vacuums, all that hair is a by-product of caring for your fluffy pal. Many people suffer from allergies and ensuring the hair and odors produced by dogs and cats is removed and disposed of on a regular basis can help keep the allergy attacks to a minimum. And let’s be honest, anyone who has ever had a cat or a dog has had to clean up at least a few inside accidents. The smell left behind can ruin an entire house. Especially from cats because of the high amount of ammonia in their urine. Repel a Smell is a highly effective treatment for eliminating hair and urine odors. The chlorine dioxide gas has microscopic molecules that fill up the inside of your space and seep into all cracks, crevices, and carpet fibers. Complete odor removal is achieved because the molecules come into contact with every surface so nothing is left unsanitized.
Pet’s are part of our family and require maintenance and care just as we do. We exercise safe and environmentally friendly practices when caring for ourselves, making sure we dispose of various items correctly, wrapping up our trash tightly, and using products that are earth-friendly. It’s important to include the care and maintenance of our loving companions in these practices as well. We need to pick up and dispose of waste and hair frequently and make sure it’s sealed tightly. We should add the cleaning and disinfecting of the receptacles and the areas where we reside with our pets to our list of standard practices too. Our foam and Repel A Smell are the perfect items to accomplish that in a safe and effective way. Contact us today to learn more.
