Accepted Answer

Hi 3 Leavers,

Thank you for your post. That is great that you are allowing dogs on your beach. I am sure the dog owners appreciate it and are hopefully respecting everyone else and picking up their dog's waste.

In answer to your question, in most cases, dog's urine poses no health risk to people or children. The one exception to that is if the dog is infected with Leptospirosis. A type of bacteria that can cause liver, kidney and other problems. If a dog has this bacteria, they are likely sick and not at the beach. Additionally, I don't know what the prevalence is in your area. People would have to touch the urine to open wounds or eyes or mouth. This bacteria is commonly found in the urine of raccoons, skunks, and rodents.

In short there is a very low risk of people or children getting sick from dog's on the beach.

Hope this information helps. Please let me know how I can be of further assistance.

Expert:	Dr. B
Pos. Feedback:	100.0 %
Accepts:
Answered:	5/8/2009

Veterinarian

Residency completed in small animal internal medicine.