Vienna district asks dog owners to rinse pet urine off trees with water
A district of Vienna, Austria's capital, has launched a campaign urging dog owners to dilute pets' urine on tree trunks with water. The aim is to protect trees planted over the past decade.
The Neubau district of Vienna, Austria's capital, launched a campaign this week called Schönes Gassi ("nice dog walk") that encourages dog owners to carry a bottle of tap water and rinse away their pets' urine from trees. The densely populated district is dotted with cafes and galleries. The initiative aims to reduce the effect of dogs on greenery, including about 250 trees planted over the past decade to help offset the effects of the climate crisis.
Why urine harms trees
The campaign's slogan is Das Flascherl zum Sackerl ("the bottle to go with the bag"). The guidelines say animal urine corrodes bark, weakens its protective layer and can allow harmful pathogens and fungi to enter the trunk. Grätzllabor, a community group whose name comes from Viennese slang for a neighbourhood, says that marking territory is a form of communication for dogs but stresses urban trees. In the worst case it leads to rot and reduced stability.
The group said it launched the campaign together with "concerned citizens". Owners are also asked to carry plastic bags to pick up after their dogs. A free 270ml water bottle is available at the town hall. The scheme is voluntary and could be extended to other districts.
Fresh dog urine dissolves readily in water, and dilution significantly lowers the concentration of ammonia and other harmful substances seeping into the soil, while also softening the smell. Grätzllabor stressed that rinsing is not a "licence" for dogs to mark trees but a step owners can take to limit the damage.
Dog trainer Conny Sporrer said the campaign could head off more drastic measures. In her view, Vienna needs neither a city full of dog bans nor one where dogs urinate anywhere, but consideration, education and enough suitable facilities.
Similar measures elsewhere
Similar schemes exist in Japan, Italy, Switzerland and Spain, where 70% of households own a dog, the highest share in the EU. In Austria the figure is only 17%. In Berlin, where more than 100,000 dogs are kept after ownership rose during the pandemic, planting of black locust trees has been halted in some areas because they are especially sensitive to urine. This spring, the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district began installing "pee stones" for dogs to target instead of trees.
