Assessment of environmental and public health impacts of dog parks in residential neighborhoods: A case study in Toronto, Canada

2025 · doi:10.32942/x28050
preprint OA: closed CC-BY-4.0
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This paper is a case study from Toronto, Canada that assesses environmental and public health impacts associated with off-leash dog parks, focusing on dog fecal contamination and zoonotic pathogens. It describes how investigators have reported high gastrointestinal pathogen and parasite presence in dog parks, and it states that dog feces can introduce antibiotic-resistant microorganisms and biohazard parasites (including dog roundworms) into soil with potential human exposure routes. The paper’s key claim is that accumulated parasites can act like hazardous biological agents, with effects extending to underground water and aerosolized particles, and it reports assessed infection rates among dog shelter workers (92%) and dog owners (67%) as part of its discussion. This paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

The number of pet dogs has been increasing over the last decade, causing more challenges for dog owners taking care of their pets, particularly in current small apartments, as well as larger impacts on public health and environment. Dog owners usually use outdoor public spaces for their dogs to play and defecate. Public spaces are common sites of dog fecal contamination with prevalent rates of gastrointestinal pathogens that are naturally carried by dogs. Dog feces are a serious biohazard. They contain microorganisms that are both pathogenic to humans and resistant to several classes of antibiotics. Extensive spread of these dangerous microorganisms in the area can lead to a pandemic, mainly among children and other vulnerable residents. Biohazard parasites, primarily roundworms of pet dogs, are commonly found in the soil of public parks, particularly in the off-leash areas. These zoonotic parasites infect humans that can result in serious diseases. Direct or indirect contact with polluted soil with pet dogs’ trash is one of the main routes of bacteria transmission from animals to humans. The infection rate among dogs’ shelter workers and dog owners were assessed respectively as 92% and 67%. Scientific research works performed in various countries indicate the existence of canine parasites in more than 50% (even in some cases 67%) of dog parks. This study aims to assess the environmental and health impacts of off-leash dog park in a public park located in a densely-populated neighborhood of Toronto, Canada based on investigations performed in various countries. Biohazard parasites accumulated in a dog park for a longer time act like a hazardous biological agent, are washed off into the underground water table and released off the plants in heat into the air as aerosol, causing serious diseases in humans.
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Abstract

The number of pet dogs has been increasing over the last decade, causing more challenges for dog owners taking care of their pets, particularly in current small apartments, as well as larger impacts on public health and environment. Dog owners usually use outdoor public spaces for their dogs to play and defecate. Public spaces are common sites of dog fecal contamination with prevalent rates of gastrointestinal pathogens that are naturally carried by dogs. Dog feces are a serious biohazard. They contain microorganisms that are both pathogenic to humans and resistant to several classes of antibiotics. Extensive spread of these dangerous microorganisms in the area can lead to a pandemic, mainly among children and other vulnerable residents. Biohazard parasites, primarily roundworms of pet dogs, are commonly found in the soil of public parks, particularly in the off-leash areas. These zoonotic parasites infect humans that can result in serious diseases. Direct or indirect contact with polluted soil with pet dogs’ trash is one of the main routes of bacteria transmission from animals to humans. The infection rate among dogs’ shelter workers and dog owners were assessed respectively as 92% and 67%. Scientific research works performed in various countries indicate the existence of canine parasites in more than 50% (even in some cases 67%) of dog parks. This study aims to assess the environmental and health impacts of off-leash dog park in a public park located in a densely-populated neighborhood of Toronto, Canada based on investigations performed in various countries. Biohazard parasites accumulated in a dog park for a longer time act like a hazardous biological agent, are washed off into the underground water table and released off the plants in heat into the air as aerosol, causing serious diseases in humans. DOI https://doi.org/10.32942/X28050 Subjects Public Health

Keywords

dogs, environment, zoonoses, Hookworms, parasites, ecology, Canada, PET, Park, Biohazard Dates Published: 2025-06-24 09:52 Last Updated: 2026-02-16 17:05 Older Versions License CC BY Attribution 4.0 International Additional Metadata Conflict of interest statement: The author has no competing interests. Data and Code Availability Statement: All information are presented in the article. Language: English

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License: CC-BY-4.0