Pets|The city of Helsinki refuses to stop salting the streets. The council initiative wants to stop the use of salt in order to protect pets’ paws.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
Helsinki is not going to stop salting the streets in winter.
It has been speculated that the salt has caused strange symptoms to dogs in winter: raising their paws and howling.
The city justifies the decision with winter cycling goals and the risk of slipping.
The initiative will be discussed in the city environmental committee on Tuesday.
Helsinki the city refuses to stop salting the streets in winter. The council’s initiative wants to completely stop the use of salt in the city’s own winter maintenance.
The initiative states that salt is harmful to dogs, causing pain in the paws, and that it can even be fatal if taken orally. According to the initiative, the issue has been investigated in the United States.
Dogs special symptoms were widely reported in Helsinki in 2021. Some of the dogs fell asleep, for example, when crossing roads. The dogs raised their paws and squealed or howled.
Some of the dogs refused to walk.
Helsinki justifies the refusal by the fact that stopping the use of salt would lead to the city having to completely abandon its winter cycling goals and the number of slips could increase. In addition, it could increase street dust.
The city also points out in its response to the initiator that America uses different salt than in Finland.
The city also appeals to the fact that the substance is used relatively little and only as a solution in special measures: to keep the road thawed and to bind dust.
However, the city now undertakes to use the substance as efficiently as possible and to find solutions to promote the health and well-being of pet dogs.
“Calcium chloride solution in Helsinki [suolaa] may end up in the dogs’ mouths if they lick their paws after walking on enhanced bike paths or on a parallel pedestrian path. It is therefore recommended to avoid these routes when walking dogs,” states the city’s response.
Pet dogs the origin of the symptoms could not be verified as salt, which is used to melt the ice on the roads.
Helsinki studied the composition of salt after the symptoms of the pets. The city’s control veterinarians evaluated whether they could find an explanation for the dogs’ problems. However, no sign was found that the original cause of the symptoms was street salt.
However, the city stated that the combined effect of road salt, severe frost and ice can cause a chemical reaction. The combined effect of these factors could therefore make dogs’ paws hurt, because salt and ice can drop the temperature of the ice well below freezing.
The coalition Otto Meren and the initiatives of 34 other city councilors will be discussed in the city environment committee on Tuesday. Politicians make the final decision on the use of salt in maintenance.
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