Whilst my day job mostly involves parasites in aquatic environments, BARC is a great project for informing the public about parasites. Parasites are often a neglected aspect of biodiversity, despite the fact that >50% of animals are parasites. Just as biologists are now taking an ecosystem approach to tackle ecological questions, we proposed here to use a community approach to tackle not only infectious disease biology, but the socio-economic problems linked to dog fouling.

 

In 2013 there were 8.5-10 million dogs in the UK, which contributes significantly to the wellbeing of dog owners. These dogs, however, produce approximately 1,000 tonnes of excrement each day and UK tax payers spend £22 million annually to clean up dog faeces. Dog fouling is undoubtedly an emotive topic. However, we can hopefully do something to improve the situation by gathering data on parasites to provide more ammunition for anti-dog fouling campaigns.