About Mutts for the Bay
We are here to help you and your pup be stewards of our watershed.
As you and your dog visit our beaches, parks, hiking trails, and special seaside spots, we help make it easy to do your duty and pick up after your pet. The Mutts for the Bay program provides free pet waste bags for picking up pet waste all over town and educates the public about keeping our bay clean. We maintain 36 dispensers throughout the Morro Bay watershed in partnership with the County of San Luis Obispo, a group of dedicated community volunteers and sponsors, and a generous grant from the Harold J. Miossi Charitable Trust. It is part of our commitment to protecting and restoring Morro Bay for people and animals alike.
Picking up after your dog helps keep our bay clean.
About Your Dog’s Poop
Dog poop is not a good fertilizer.
There are approximately 5,500 dogs that live in Morro Bay and Los Osos. This means an average of 19,000 pounds of dog poop is produced each week. Dog poop produces nearly twice as much bacteria as human waste which, when left on the ground, has a major impact on the environment. When it rains, waste can seep into the groundwater and wash into local storm drains and waterways, ending up in the bay. The bacteria from all this waste can be harmful to people and to the environment.
Dog poop can take up to one year to break down. The impact of one pile of waste can compound, resulting a big problem for water quality.
More on
Water Quality
Our 2023 State of the Bay report summarizes bay bacteria monitoring from 2005-2021. Bacteria levels at all locations meet water quality standards for recreational contact. Keeping pet waste from entering the bay is one way to help reduce bacteria levels. The connection to water quality is important– picking up after your pet is not just about keeping our parks and lawns clean. It is also about clean water that we can all enjoy.
MAP OF OUR DISPENSERS
How to Get Involved
Donate
Donations of all sizes help keep dispensers stocked full of bags, increase the number of dispensers, and fund education about the importance of picking up after our pets
Sponsor
When available, you can donate at the $400 level for an annual dispenser sponsorship! We will work with you to design a sticker for the dispenser to show our appreciation.
Social Media Outreach
Help us spread the word about the importance of picking up after your dog by following us and tagging us in your dog pictures on Instagram!
OUR SPONSORS
Dane Lundy, in honor of Ben & Skye from Brown’s Barber Shop
Nancy Dickenson & their dogs Dory & Ricky
Dale Kaiser Real Estate
Kathy Baker and her dogs, Berkeley & Kirby
Morro Bay Active Adults 55+ Senior Center
Rotary Club of Morro Bay
Top Dog Coffee Bar
Alberto Tovar, for Huey and his dogma, Dr. Supatra Tovar
Morro Bay Oyster Company
Elsie Casida and Sky
The Shell Shop
Sherrill Gardner
Keith & Rhonda Crowfoot, in honor of good dogs everywhere
Morro Cove Homeowner’s Association
Robert Christie and his dogs, Annie & Mackie
Grassy Bar Oyster Company
Tamara Cox, in honor of Shirley and Duane
The San Luis Obispo County’s Stormwater Management Program
In Honor of Meade Canine Rescue
In Honor of Sadie & Brownie
Morro Bay Open Space Alliance
The Morro Bay Triathlon
ESTERO Surf
Sea Otter Savvy
The Wolfs
Volunteers
Our network of awesome volunteers make sure dispensers are in good shape and stocked with bags. We are grateful for our volunteers’ dedication to help keep our waters and public places clean.
We have 16 volunteers that help our program run! If you are interested in hearing when we have volunteer opportunities for this program, fill out our volunteer interest form.
A special thanks to the Harold J. Miossi Trust
The Harold J. Miossi Trust provides a generous grant for the Mutts for the Bay program. This grant has paid for the purchase, installation, and supply of bags for four new dispensers in the Morro Bay watershed, as well as helping provide bags for all of the dispensers in our program. This grant also provides support for the development and distribution of educational and outreach materials for students, members of our community, and visitors.