Dogs | “Come on!” – Helsinki's humorous videos remind dog owners of an important issue

“A button says: come on!” are reminded in videos circulating on social media channels.

Helsinki's urban environment urges urban dog owners to do their duty and collect the waste of their furry friends with humorous videos.

The issue always comes up in the spring, when brown, smelly piles are revealed from under the snow.

This spring, Napu, a 7-year-old rescue dog, is lobbying for the issue on social media.

Another video slogan is also catchy: “Avoid brown spring and collect poop”.

Fun there is an important and serious matter behind the videos, says the communications expert Teina Ryynänen From the city of Helsinki.

Ryynänen realized the videos with his colleague.

“The dog poop issue is always talked about in the spring, so it's important to remind people about it,” says Ryynänen.

According to him, dog waste in the city is a big problem for nature, dogs and people.

According to Ryynänen, making videos with Napu was easy. In the videos, among other things, the lop ear digs a snow bank and rolls around in the snow – fortunately in clean snow.

“Napu likes people and it was quite easy to work with him. It started digging completely spontaneously, and it didn't even need treats,” says Ryynänen.

Facts the videos were received from the experts of the city's environmental services. Helsinki's dog cakes were recently in the exact reasons.

In addition to the unpleasant smell, dog poop can contain bacteria, viruses and parasites, such as intestinal worms. Parasites can also infect humans.

On the other hand, dog poo accumulated on the sides of roads ends up with rainwater and meltwater in nearby bodies of water and, for example, in the waters of swimming beaches.

In the summer, dog poop contributes to the reproduction of a harmful alien species, the Spanish slug, because the snails use the poop as food. Snails can carry listeria bacteria and heartworm, which are dangerous for dogs.

The city's videos also remind us of the phenomenon where poop is collected in a bio bag, but the bag is not put in the trash.

“Obviously, people think that the bio bag ends up in nature, but that's not the case,” says Ryynänen.

Green areas maintenance team manager Ann-Mari Tiitinen-Kairi says that the city's possibilities to intervene in the activities of dog walkers are limited.

“The city can inform about the matter and remind owners to take care of their dog's droppings appropriately,” says Tiitinen-Kairi.

According to him, the city's role is to make sure that the street scene has enough trash cans and the necessary sanitation.

The city has also installed garbage bag dispensers and dog toilets, for example in Kalasatama.

The city cannot prohibit dogs from walking outside and therefore peeing or pooping in public areas. Only children's playgrounds and swimming beaches have signs prohibiting the entry of dogs.

The team leader does not believe that the city has the resources to control dog walkers.

“I'm not the right person to judge whether the owners should be punished if the dog waste is not collected.”