12:42pm Sunday 21st June 2009
By Dave Ball
Summer is finally here, I know this is true as my skin has gone a light shade of pink, the result of a day out in Brighton. With the good weather and lighter nights, the dog walkers are out in force, and it was whilst running home from work the other day that the subject of this article came to me. The next ten minutes were then spent wiping my running shoes on some long grass whilst I cursed the irresponsible dog owner that had not cleaned up after his dog.
Why do some dog owners feel the urge to share their dog mess with everyone else? Don’t get me wrong I love dogs, and cats for that matter. However I want to choose the occasions when I have contact with them. I don’t want to have to dodge and weave the small deposits of canine activities. So what are the rules?
The government has helpfully provided a law preventing this activity, The Dog Fouling Act. This gives the specific definitions of the law. It also allows local government to publish bylaws underpinned by this act. The general rule of thumb is: it is illegal to allow your dog to foul the following areas:
All footpaths, footways and roads maintained at public expense All grass verges; Shrub beds and tree bases maintained at public expense; All parks, play areas, cemeteries and leisure land owned and maintained by the council; All parts of council owned housing estates including grassed areas, shrub areas, play areas, footpaths and roadways in common use, stairwells, balconies and walkways open to the air and all external areas to council owned public buildings.
It is probably worth pointing out that there are areas that are not covered by the act: Agriculture and Woodlands; Marshland, Moor, or Heath; Common land to which the public are entitled. Which to be fair to the dog owner I fell foul to (yes a cheap pun I know) I was probably on land not covered by the act. That didn’t make it any less annoying and I think it is in the general interest of common decency for all dog owners to ‘scoop the poop’ wherever it is deposited.
The local authority has gone a long way to help the dog lovers by providing waste bins specifically designated for dog pooh, although I suspect the response from dog owners will centre on the frequency of emptying the bins. Some local authorities are supporting an activity called ‘Flag the Pooh’ and this has ‘pooh vigilantes’ combing the streets for offending piles, into which they place a small red flag. Whilst this might help to highlight the issue and perhaps bring some shame to the dog owners, I suspect it is generally short lived and just further adds to the growing litter problem.
Dog excrement does have some health issues, and the web has a host of sites highlighting this. The main cause of disease from dog mess is Toxocara Canis. There are reports of partial blindness and other long term debilitating disorders in young children caused by this disease, which apart from the annoyance factor of dog fouling, should be a good enough reason to take action.
So the answer is in the hands of the offender, quite literally. Come on dog owners, make sure that you always have a bag to collect the offending deposit and either put it in the correct bin, or take it home.
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