Exterior Premise Sanitation and Maintenance. 
This includes sanitary refuse storage and the 
storage of building materials and other objects 
on racks 18 inches off the ground to prevent rat 
harborage. Uneaten dog or cat food should be 
removed shortly after the pet has finished its 
meal. If such foodstuff is allowed to remain, 
it will provide food for rats and a breeding place 
for flies. Animal shelters should be kept clean, 
as accumulated droppings will provide a breeding 
media for flies and fleas. Dogs should be con- 
fined to the owner’s premises. Their feces should 
be picked up from the lawn or yard daily, de- 
posited in paper bags or wrapped in newspaper, 
and either placed in the refuse container or 
buried. In residential areas where dogs are nu- 
merous, a considerable portion of the fly popu- 
lation may be attributed to dog droppings. Shoof, 
Mail and Savage (1954) (42) report that among 
fly-infested media, dog excrement was second 
only to garbage in Charleston, West Virginia 
in 1952 and Topeka, Kansas in 1950. In areas 
where stables for horses are maintained, manure 
should be cleaned up daily and properly disposed 
33 
