Poo-llution Sniffing Dogs Back by Poop-ular Demand

This month’s Rally for the Navesink meeting was for the dogs! On November 29th, Karen Reynolds, President of Environmental Canine Services (ECS), joined us at the final meeting of the year for an informative meet and greet with the amazing poo-llution sniffing dogs, Remi and Kai.

ECS trains canines to detect the presence of human sewage contamination in water, which may be caused by leaking sewer lines, failing septic systems, and illicit pipe connections. The dog handlers use the canine responses to conduct immediate source tracking, so that sources of human fecal pollution can be rapidly identified and ultimately fixed. During the last week of November, two teams from ECS, consisting of dog and handler, investigated several hotspots of fecal pollution throughout the Navesink River watershed. COA collaborated with municipal officials and employees, NJDEP, and Monmouth County Health Department to support ECS’ investigation throughout the watershed.