Animals with up to date pet passports are allowed into the UK (a bill presented originally by the Monster Raving Looney Party but adopted by the government of the time), which will give pedigree, vet's records, innoculations and other relevant information.

Jeri - I grew up in the country, poop is all around us. I was just pointing out the hazards that make more dog poop undesirable. Turds do not carry little cards to say if they've been innoculated, so all turds should be treated as potentially harmful. Not all pet owners worm regularly - many don't even know if their pet has had all its shots, neither do they check faeces for worms. But to consider grass as nothing but poop carrier, then we'd never enjoy sitting out on the lawn or in the park or on a hillside again. Sensible precautions such as not eating stuff that falls on the grass, washing hands and not licking the turf mean we avoid the worst.

Having said that, the best way to get a healthy immune system is to expose it to many and varied sorts of bacteria. You just can't win.

LTS