Well if you live in Cleveland, Detroit or Chicago you are, according to a new study from University of Colorado. The researchers looked at airborne bacteria found in these three cities and found a significant proportion of microorganisms from dog crap, a ratio which rises during winter.
Says the New Scientist:
In summer, the proportions of bacteria in the air come almost equally from soils, dog faeces and the leaves of trees. But come winter, the trees have shed all their leaves and aerosols from soils are limited by overlying snow or ice, reducing absolute counts of airborne bacteria by about 50 per cent. This means that dog faeces becomes the dominant remaining source.
Whether these cities will add this to their advertising for tourists hoping for an increase in visitors interested in animal-based scatophilia remains to be seen. Either way this urban circle of life is a fun thing to think about while walking around these cities, so breath deeply and enjoy your new life as a dung beetle.
Main image via sharenator.com
