Bransty Schoolchildren campaign against dog mess

Members of the School Council of Bransty School came to their hopefully more grown-up opposite numbers at Copeland this afternoon to appeal for more action against dog fouling and other forms of evironmental harm associated with irresponsible dog ownership.

They gave an excellent presentation to one of Copeland Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committees, which included a description of the problems which children at the school have had to put up with. The presentation included pictures of two children from other parts of the country who have recently been seriously hurt (among other things, both were blinded) by the Toxicara Canis parasite, apparently contracted through dog droppings.

Council officers reported on the measures which are in hand to deal with this problem: there is an assesment under way about the needs of the area for refuse bins, as a result of which there will be at least two more bins on Bransty Hill.

The point was also made that you do not need a specialised "poop a scoop" bag for dog dirt: it can perfectly well be contained in an ordinary bin bag or nappy liner (and these cost an order of magnitude less.)

If anyone reading this sees someone allowing their dog to foul a public street or play area, in Bransty or anywhere else, please report it at once to the environmental health department of your local council, with as many details as you ca provide of time and place. (There is no point the council sending someone to an area at 4pm if the dog fouling is taking place at 8 am.)

Nothing in this post is intended to suggest that all dog owners are irresponsible: there are many who take care to ensure that their dogs do not make a mess in places where this causes a hazard to others, or who clear it up if they do. But there are other dog owners who need to have more consideration for other people.

Comments

Tim said…
Have you ever seen a dog owner clean up its dog's wee ? Last winter when we had an unusual amount of snow on the ground, the amount of yellow snow around lamposts and street signs was staggering. I suggested to a dog owner once that if they couldn't clean it up, they should confine their dog to a back garden for the purpose, the look they gave me was amazing !
9:33 am
Chris Whiteside said…
I've seen dog owners use poop-a-scoops, both in St Albans and in Whitehaven. Not aware of how you could clean up number ones.
7:06 pm
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