In the near future, all Moscow parks will be equipped with special paper bags and plastic scoops pet owners will have to use.

“It's absolutely essential – we really needed these bags,” dog owner Lyudmila Bokova told RT. “First of all, it's very convenient. But also, now I’m not worried anymore about leaving the poo just lying around. The park is so beautiful.”

However, the measure is not just about keeping the place tidy.

As it turns out, dog’s excrements contain bacteria that can cause allergies and an infection that leads to blindness. When dog feces dries and turns to dust, these bacteria are spread. Last year, 400 people in Moscow were diagnosed with the infection. The worst is the fact that since the dust is lying on the ground, children are particularly exposed to the danger.

“First, we wanted people to use these bags because it's unpleasant to see dog's excrement on the grass and on the paths,” the effort’s initiator, Maksim An, told RT. “But then we found out that it's also damaging to the environment to leave it there, then we really started moving on with the project.”

In many countries, owners get fined if they do not clean up after their dog. In some cities in the U.S., dog poop is even collected and used for fertilizer. If the initiative in the Russian capital gets taken up, the chances of stepping in the smelly stuff may become a thing of the past.