Where there's horse muck, there's brass | Letters

"Setting aside the general etiquette of picking up (or not) after horses (Letters, 19 January), there is in fact decent evidence that dog poo poses rather more of a public health risk than horse muck in terms of pathogens, parasites, diet, and how long the stuff remains infectious. This is not a new debate. As a sergeant in the mounted department in the 1990s, I once found myself dispatched to Radio Merseyside's Roger Phillips phonein"

"Reading the letters regarding horse manure, I was reminded of my father in the 1960s when we went for a run out on a Sunday in our little Vauxhall Viva. Spotting a pile of horse manure, he would give a joyous shout of Road apples!, pull to a halt and jump out to gather the treasure. He kept a small shovel and a sack in the boot for precisely such occasions."

Evidence indicates dog feces carry greater public health risk than horse manure because of higher loads of pathogens and parasites, dietary differences, and longer periods of infectivity. A mounted police sergeant researched equine zoonoses while defending the use of police horses on radio and found limited human risk from horse droppings. A memory describes collecting horse manure for garden fertilizer and enjoying its smell. Observations from people who have owned dogs and ponies characterize dog feces as more toxic and malodorous and subject to legal removal, whereas horse droppings compost and biodegrade quickly.

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