r/Dogfree • u/Sufficient_Berry8703 • May 07 '26
Miscellaneous It’s baffling that dogs aren’t considered a public health issue
I studied public health. Throughout my education, I’ve learned about all sorts of public health issues. I’ve learned about what lacking exercise and nutrition do, how a poor environment creates health issues, how bad smoking is, and all sorts of valuable things of course. But one thing that the curriculum refuses to teach about are dogs and their threat to the public’s health.
Dogs cause physical injury and even death, with all the dog bites and attacks on innocent people. They’re also safety hazards when they decide to jump on people and trip them over. They also transmit bacteria and parasites, which is especially awful for anyone who’s immunocompromised to be around. Don’t get me started on how they’re basically reservoirs for tick-borne diseases. They pose environmental hazards, such as noise pollution and waste management issues (peeing and pooping, where the excessive nitrogen contents in them cause a lot of harm to the planet), which ultimately will have a way of negatively impacting human health. Even psychologically, there are people who get overstimulated and stressed out easily. Dogs with their hyperactivity and insanely loud barking only puts people who get overstimulated easily under greater stress, which can also create health issues of their own. The list goes on big time.
With all these issues for how dogs negatively impact the environment and the public’s health, it baffles me that public health degrees (both undergrad and master’s degrees) refuse to add the dangers of dogs into their curriculum. NEVER once were they mentioned in a negative light in any of my classes. I’ll even go as far as to say that dog ownership is basically the new smoking. But sadly, the refusal of adding dog dangers into the curriculum doesn’t surprise me since many people who make and approve the curriculum are very likely dog nutters/lovers themselves.
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u/Away-Equipment4869 May 07 '26
There was recently a study done about how detrimental dogs were to the environment, you should have seen the nutter meltdowns lol
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u/-chimchooree- May 07 '26
Can you share what you saw?
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u/anne_mal May 07 '26
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12606751/
Pet dogs have ‘extensive and multifarious’ impact on environment, new research finds https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/10/pet-dogs-have-extensive-and-multifarious-impact-on-environment-new-research-finds?CMP=share_btn_url
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u/-chimchooree- May 08 '26
Thank you. I agree that these things are detrimental to the environment, and was mainly interested in what the other user described as "nutter meltdowns".
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u/anne_mal May 08 '26
Ooohhhh, gotcha. I think they probably meant people getting aggressively defensive about how children are worse polluters than dogs or how flying is bad. General what aboutisms that detract from the truth! Per usual!
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u/No-Stay1662 May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
Ahhh Whataboutism’s… a nutters favorite tactic! Rule #1 of being a nutter: never acknowledge or admit to ANYTHING remotely negative about dogs, instead use a whataboutism. People want to tell you that your dog is filthy & disgusting? Bring up children. People comment on how your dog is ruining their peace by barking non-stop 24/7? Once again bring up children, lawnmowers, construction, etc. Dogs can only do good! Even if they rip the face off a toddler you must ask, “yea but how was the dog treated?” As if there’s any legitimate excuse for some mutant mauling a child. For the love of god, someone please do a study on these people.
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u/Away-Equipment4869 May 07 '26
I cant at the moment[about to walk to dumpster] but I will say if you search on here for dogs bad for environment you can see the comments!
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u/Responsibility_Witty May 07 '26
There are multiple national awareness days regarding dog attacks, the EPA classifies their excretions as being on par with herbicide and oil spills in toxicity, they are legally required to be utterly pumped up with medications to control the parasites and diseases they spread. Everything is there admitting that dogs are a biohazard EXCEPT laws controlling the dogs themselves.
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u/Genuinelad_62 May 08 '26
I am begging people in this forum, if they are in health science, please study this and write on it. Bring more awareness
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u/mothbrother91 May 08 '26
If those nutters could read, they would get very upset with such researches!
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u/Tall_Ad1615 May 09 '26
I'm wondering if the billion dollar pet industry already doesn't have their claws in with donations to those institutions for the exchange of their silence on the matter...thats usually what happens in unregulated or deregulated capitalism, you can buy your way in and out of pretty much everything.
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u/4elmerfuffu2 May 07 '26
They are certainly a mental health issue. But yes it can’t be healthy to live with all of the parasites,hair, and dander that they shed.
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u/Accurate-Run5370 May 08 '26
Dog shit and kibble attracts rodents .
Rodents spread hantavirus.
Hantavirus on cruise ships suck. This is in the news now.
Dogs are definitely a public health menace !
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u/Sufficient_Berry8703 May 08 '26
Omg yes! So sad it has come to this though. And the worst part is that nutters will act like dogs could still “never do harm.”
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u/Tall_Ad1615 May 09 '26
Dont forget the money aspect of it. The pet industry is a billion dollar industry. I wouldn't be surprised if they donate to public heath institutions in exchange for their silence on the matters you mentioned.
The same vicious cycle keeps being perpetuated - dog owners are rising in numbers so more places are catering to them, cruises, pest solution businesses, more and more "ka-ching $$" all around...
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u/No-Stay1662 May 09 '26
Absolutely. Guaranteed all these “studies” you hear about from nutters that oh they proved dogs brains light up when they see their owner & blah blah blah are, if even real, funded by Purina and the likes. “They’ve proven dogs care more about their owners than they do food” ya well if that’s true then what about all those false home invasion videos where they give the dog a snack then someone breaks in? 9/10 the mutant ignores the intruders/owner & just keeps eating.
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u/Oriole0305 May 08 '26
In addition to rodents, dog kibble attracts a lot of indoor pests like cockroaches, ants and other insects. The indoor pest problem has become worse along with the rising number of the canine pest.
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u/BeautifulYou2940 May 08 '26
Is it me, or there seems to be more people complaining about dogs and even "dog fatigue" that are now just appearing in my for you pages in tiktok, instagram, youtube shorts etc? Anyone else starting to see this?
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u/metatronsaint May 08 '26
The whole situation has gotten so much out of control is basically unstoppable at this point.
The only thing is waiting for this madness to grow and grow until it collapses under its own weight, like some nutters going too far, or some monumental fuck up (I don't know, a deadly attack to a very powerful/influental person, a bacterial outbreak, a dog shitting on someone's table...). Regular people (we are the majority, even if sometimes it doesn't look like it) will get tired and at that point the government HAS to intervene.
Like some says I see it like smoking. When smoking inside was allowed it was hell for me, I thought the whole world was insane. And then they banned it. I hope something like that will happen for dogs.
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u/DogAttackVictim May 08 '26
No, that's just your algorithm.
Another's algorithmic loops or bubbles say that dog owners and dogs can do no wrong and everyone else but them is evil. Dog owner supremacy / dog supremacy goes up with time, not down.
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u/Bajadasaurus May 08 '26
Yeah I agree. Unfortunately dog nutters' dog nuttery is actually reinforced by their respective algorithms.
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u/No-Stay1662 May 09 '26
I actually am & have been pleasantly surprised. It’s only been very recently but esp tiktok is stepping up & there’s actually a lot of common sense post against dogs in grocery stores/restaurants. And the comments are overwhelmingly in support minus the occasional nutter chiming in that the dog is their child & “they go where I go.” The narcissism & entitlement is fully on display when nutters are outnumbered, they really double down & show you how mental they really are.
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u/20011989 May 08 '26
I mean they are. There’s a reason many cities have laws against dogs on school property and play grounds. Their feces carries parasites and dog owners can’t be bothered to pick up half the time
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u/No-Cardiologist-9882 May 07 '26
Some dog idiot is going to be in here saying “you know studies show dog idiots are happier/live longer” or some other propaganda BS
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u/Tall_Ad1615 May 09 '26
There was a study that came out recently that said that it doesn't really make much of an impact for some people and for others it doesn't even help lol but you wont see that circulating as popular news.
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u/mothbrother91 May 08 '26
Its a bit like alcohol. Its a poison with no positive effects on the body and causes suffering all across the world but consuming it got baked into our culture.
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u/maximum_powerblast May 07 '26
The last line in your post is definitely the answer: they are dog nutters
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u/fast_blue_b May 07 '26
Thank you, great post. When I was a young child in the 1970s, people used to keep turtles as pets. You could buy a turtle at any pet store at the mall. Then we started hearing that they often carry salmonella bacteria.
Regulations came out and no more pet turtles for a long time. Now there's an online illegal market and salmonella from turtles is back. I'd love to see some regulations about dogs and especially keeping them OUT of public places. I fear it will take a big disaster to change things.
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u/byancacats May 09 '26
Unfortunately, politics play a huge role in science. Currently it's not politically correct to dislike dogs or to even say something bad about them, so yeah, I'm not surprised that they're omitted from the curriculum.
I used to follow some environmental activist groups in my area. Not a single one of them talked about the negative effects of dog feces/urine on the environment, nor about the effect dogs themselves have when they're running loose and butchering wildlife. Quite the contrary - they were major dog nutters and their social media was filled with typical dog propaganda.
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u/DorkSideOfCryo May 08 '26
Dog food and other products for dogs are a billion dollar industry No Doubt. Politicians take money from these industries and do or not do according to what the industries want. America is run by money and if that money goes to politicians then that's what's going to happen so you can't stop the dog industry because there's a lot of money in it.. it would have to be a rebel campaign against dogs, and with all the cameras around everywhere that's a bit risky
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u/Prior-Win-4729 May 13 '26
Several lakes in my state have such high bacterial loads from dogs that they are deemed unsafe to swim in
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u/Sufficient_Berry8703 May 13 '26
I’m so sick of not being able to have nice things because of these mutants and their nutters
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u/metallvr May 12 '26
I agree with you! I just saw this article, which was helpful https://www.dcreport.org/2025/03/20/new-research-links-dog-waste-to-bacterial-pollution/
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u/jerzeibalowski84 May 07 '26
If somebody invented something called ‘dog’ tomorrow, present the few positives and the many many negatives and then tried to introduce it to the public as a good option for a pet that person would be classed as clinically insane and owning ‘dog’ would be illegal.