Hands Paws & Hearts Rescue

A new review published in Animals, a peer-reviewed Q1 veterinary science journal, highlights growing evidence linking environmental chemical exposure to bladder cancer in dogs. Researchers identified lawn herbicides as a potential risk factor and note that many of these chemicals can be absorbed through the paws and skin, ingested during grooming, and ultimately concentrated in the bladder through urine.

🌧️ Rain doesn’t automatically wash pesticides away. Many are designed to stick to grass and soil long after rainfall.

🐾 Wet grass can actually increase exposure by helping residues transfer onto your dog’s paws, fur, and eventually into their mouth.

⏳ Some herbicides leave residues for days, while certain insecticides can persist for weeks or even months.

⚠️ “Safe after drying” doesn’t mean the chemicals are gone—it simply means immediate contact risk is lower.

To reduce exposure:
• Avoid freshly treated lawns, especially when wet
• Wipe or rinse paws after walks
• Clean wet bellies and fur
• Prevent paw licking until cleaned.

The concern isn’t one exposure, it’s years of small exposures adding up from parks, sidewalks, treated lawns, and other everyday environments.

👉Comment “CLEAN UP” and we’ll send you more on protecting dogs from everyday pesticide and environmental chemical exposure.