By Emily Ng
Faculty of veterinary medicine researchers at the University of Calgary are asking Calgary dog owners to donate their dog’s poop in the name of science.
Dog owners in Calgary who live in areas near large parks were sent letters on July 11 requesting them to fill out online surveys about their dog’s walking patterns. Dog owners were also asked if they would be willing to donate their dog’s leavings.
The bizarre requests are for a study led by veterinary medicine assistant professor Alessandro Massolo and veterinary medicine graduate student Anya Smith. They are researching gastrointestinal parasites in dogs, as well as the relationships between domestic animals, wildlife and people in urban environments.
Massolo’s lab specifically studies the methods of transmission and infection of the common water-borne parasites Giardiasis and Cryptosporidium and how they affect domestic and wild animals in urban areas. Massolo and his team are hoping to find out more about the prevalence of the parasites in dogs. Particularly, which strains of these parasites are found in dogs, coyotes and rodents that go to the same parks and whether dogs can pass these parasites to humans or other animals.
“The study is basically going to provide valuable information for dog owners, for park and wildlife management, for veterinarians and for the public health sector as well,” said Smith.
Smith also notes that these parasites, which are commonly found in a number of animal species in North America, will not always harm dogs.
“Just because they’re common doesn’t mean they’re dangerous necessarily,” said Smith. “Animals can carry these parasites and be asymptomatic.”
Calgary is an ideal location for this study because of the unique overlap of wildlife parks and urban areas, according to Smith.
“In Calgary, we have large parks where you’ve got coyotes and rodents and domestic animals — in this case dogs — and people all sort of overlapping in one space,” she said.
Dog owners who choose to donate their dog’s feces will have it picked up at their doorstep to be analyzed. If the results show that their dog is positive for either of the parasites, they will be notified. Dog owners will also receive a summarized report of the study when completed.
The City of Calgary, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Alberta Innovates Health Solutions and the Institute for Public Health are also playing a large part in the research.
The survey and sample collection will run until the end of August.