Letter: Why can’t people clear up after their pet dogs?
Wednesday 6th July 2011, 10:25AM BST.
Letter: Having recently been diagnosed diabetic, I decided to take up walking to improve my health.
I started to walk around the Heritage Site Battlefield in Shrewsbury but soon discovered the pathways were littered with dog mess.
The surrounding landscape is beautiful but I could not take it in because I had to constantly look down at the pathway to dodge the dog mess.
I also noted many dog owners with their dogs off their leads walking the same walk as me. Several owners had more than one dog.
Why are these owners bringing their dogs to walk around the heritage site?
The only conclusion I came up with is that they use the walk as a “dog toilet”.
I did not see any signs on the walk to instruct the owners to clear up their dog mess except one halfway round which also had a dog toilet disposal bin. This message was clearly not getting through.
I decided to change my walk and started to go to Haughmond Hill. To my amazement, the dog mess on this walk was worse than the heritage site.
Why do we have to endure this irresponsible filth when all we simply want is to enjoy a walk in the countryside? It is not the dogs who we blame but the owners who, for reasons known only to them, want a dog but are not prepared to clean up their mess causing a disgusting and health hazard mess.
How can a family with small children enjoy a walk at these sites? What enjoyment is there when dog mess is all over the walk festering with flies and smells?
I cannot offer an answer to this problem without it costing taxpayers a lot of money but I can, via this letter, make a plea to all owners to be more responsible when taking pets for a walk and to consider other people when their dogs make a mess. Clear it up.
D Rogers
Shrewsbury
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I’ve noticed this too, I was amazed by the amount of dog mess on a recent walk by the Reabrook.
A solution could be the use of corks!
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I live Reabrook and many of the offenders who don’t pick up after their dogs are local people. I have never seen so much dog mess as there is in the reabrook valley. It doesn’t help that there are only a couple of bins and they are in totally the wrong places. When I walk my dog i always pick my dogs mess up but I would have to say that the majority of the offenders are older people.
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well how do you work this one out. i live on the bell lane bridge in Monkmoor. there is a very small ally to get to main road. in this ally there is loads of black poo bags that lazy individuals can not be bothered to place in the poo bin witch is just a few feet up the road. cowards got to drop it where no one will see them.
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I have the same problems when walking my dogs, dodging the dog poo. Its annoying for owners who do scoop the poop too. I have also been to haughmond hill and was horrified at the sign which tells you to flick the poo in to the forested area off the path, which is just disgusting. Would just be nice to have a bin somewhere to get rid of it.
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JA you are horrified to find a sign on Haughmond hill telling you to flick the poo? The reason is that to put bins round Haughmond hill it would cost tax payers a lot of money and also if you ‘Flick’ it is more eviromentally friendly, lots of people bag the poo and leave it on the path, plastic does not riot so its worse!!!!! When you flick the poo it is in the bushes where you dont walk!!! THATS THE POINT!!!! It makes me laugh years ago it was worse because it wasnt the law!!! WHO MOANED THEN!
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Well i am glad it made you laugh!!!
Unfortunately I am not old enough to remember there not being a fine for dogs doing there business on pavements and not getting fined for picking it up. So I wasn’t MOANING back then. But I really don’t see why there can not be 1 bin at the end of a walk that stops you from having to take a bag home with you, Instead of flicking it,so on warm days you dont get the smell of dog poo as you walk past where someone hasn’t flicked it far enough in to the bushes??
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I think flicking dog poo could take off as a new sport. Bit like shove halfpenny for dog walkers. I did wonder why bags of poo were hanging off branches like strange fruit along the path round Haughmond Hill. What’s the point of bagging it up only to leave it dangling off a branch?
Better get some rules sorted for flicking otherwise people will complain about cheating. Rule 1. Use twigs NOT branches. Rule 2 …
And the path to Battlefield was grim last time I was there.
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Well said. People who let their dogs defecate on public footpaths and pavements should have their noses rubbed in it.
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Agreed then have it posted through their letter boxes at home. but if you do that you will probably be arrested.
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Well, I CAN offer a solution that would not cost taxpayers any extra – a blitz by the dog wardens who are already employed by the council, so using them would not cost more.
A few days of non-tolerance and issuing of fixed penalty notices would go a long way towards curbing the problem. And money from such penalties could probably cover the cost of a warden in any case.
Moving on, there’s good news and bad news on The Wrekin.
Good news is that although there are still owners of dogs who allow them to defecate on and close to the paths without clearing the mess up (with the first 100 yards being particularly bad and smelling worse than a cesspit) many more are stopping to collect the mess and put it into a plastic bag.
Bad news is that many of those then leave the plastic bags on the path or in the bushes. Result – faeces ferments and eventually blows the bag open or the bag falls apart after a few months with result that there’s faeces AND plastic bags all over the place.
What are these people thinking? If you’re one of these people, please remember that the whole message is “bag it AND BIN IT”.
How many of you have complained about open-cast mining spoiling The Wrekin but don’t seem to understand that your actions have a more direct effect on users?
Message to TWC: The Wrekin may be private land but the footpath is public and your dog wardens have jurisdiction over it.
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I see you use the word wardens when infact T&W and SCC only have 1 warden each and I expect most of there time is taken up chasing dogs around the streets. Many people will carry dog bag waste bags with them and only choose to pick up their dogs poo when other people are around. In telford people have no excuse the bags are free from many places, I’m afraid we will never get rid of the lazy people
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And of those who do pick the poo up, why do some of them hang the bags in trees, I’d almost prefer it was left on the path, at least weather will remove it after a while.
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We have recently moved over to New Zealand with our dog and here they have dog licences at a cost of £50 ($104). This I feel makes you a responsible owner and fines are imposed fi you do not register your dog.
There are designated areas for exercising dogs but owners are responsible for picking up after their dogs. I have to admit that the majority of parks and paths are clean and it really is a breath of fresh air knowing that I can walk my dog, admire the amazing scenery without having to look where I am going.
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Very well said. If you can’t be bothered to properly clean up after your dog, you shouldn’t own one. People don’t seem to realise or care that dog mess poses a risk to the health of others, as well as being generally unpleasant.
In Oswestry, there has been a problem with this for years, particularly the area around the school my children attend, unfortunately. More recently, this seems to have been replaced with people who inexplicably go as far as scooping up the mess into plastic bags, and then either leave the bags on the pavement or throw them into people’s gardens.
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I own 2 dogs and regularly visit areas like the aforementioned and always pick up (or flick – as instructed at Haughmond)my dog mess away from any area that people walk. It disgusts me that others cannot be bothered to do the same.
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Oh one more thing unfortunatley you cannot ‘stop’ your dog defecating anywhere – I think that would amount to cruelty to animals, but you should be responsible enough to remove it.
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The other problem no-one ever mentions is the littering of walkways with filled poop bags. At least at Haughmond Hill, in flicking the poop it goes off the main track and will decompose naturally in the undergrowth, the same cannot be said for the pink bag of poop which has been hanging high from a tree on one of my local walks for the last year!
Compared to most places I walk, I actually find haughmond to be one of the best places to walk where you are not having to constantly dodge piles on the path!
Why people would be prepared to scoop the poop then lob the bag into a tree for all to see for months at a time is beyond me!
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Haughmond has suffered from the success of the new paths and the cafe. used to be a clean area, popular, but almost secret at the same time. Now you cant go 10ft with dodging the stuff. The bag it policy is now replaced with the flick it with a stick, so the kids are as likely to find themselves trapsing in it when off exploring.
The amount of public areas where access is encouraged for the young generation – play areas off Dark Lane, Underdale Road, Monkmoor Rec, Raebrook are littered with the mess. I dont believe its a minority tarring all dog users, its 50/50 at best. Some openly stand statuesque on the phone or smoking while ‘rover’ makes another deposit, and 20yds away is a sign warning of £50 fines for dog fouling….how often is this enforced…?
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You’ll never stop it sadly…. it’s just one of them things!
I use the Silkin way in Telford and my main gripe is not with the dogs but with the Horses. they make more mess than the dogs do!! I know its apparently supposed to “all natural” but it makes a hell of a mess.
I approached a horse owner about this recently and was promptly told where to go. Shame on you horsey type folk
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Dog mess is on par with pig manure very dangerous health wise , horse/cow,sheep etc manure is not. I would also add the horse should be walking on the road which is why they need not pick up anyway I would also add the owner can allow a dog to defecate in the road or gutter without picking it up.
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Yes Anon, but you are more likely no notice horse muck and not step in it. Dog muck is more prevalent than horse muck, more smelly and you or your kids are more likely to step in it.
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It REALLY annoys me that dog owners can’t pick up their dog mess, because it causes a bad name for those that do. I always have doggy bags in all of my coat pockets (and even the inner pocket of my handbag!), just incase.
I don’t think dog owners should be “poo-pooed” for walking their dogs around heritage sites as the letter suggests – they too (like I do) wish to take in the beautiful sites but also at the same time, walk their dog.
I was bemused to see the sign at Haughmond Hill telling me to “flick my poo” into the undergrowth – great idea, but by this time I had already picked up my poo and had to carry the bag around the entire walk. Obviously a few people had the same issue because I saw a lot of bags hanging in trees! however, I’m wise to that now and I think in areas such as that (where undergrowth is present) its a much more environmentally friendly tactic.
As far as Reabrook goes, I lived there up until March this year and as part of the local questionnaire, I made a complaint about the lack of bins in the vicinity. I used to walk for ages carry my poo-filled bags, which isn’t particularly nice on how summer days…
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I am getting sick of this too, why have a dog if you’re too lazy to pick up after it? This also happens in bayston hill, up lyth hill and the fields surrounding it, there are many signs that say people could be fined but no one enforcing it…how hard is it to send someone out to take fines off people. I am sick of seeing it all over pavements and paths, there are too many complaints about this and no one doing a thing about it!
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I walk up Haughmond Hill and agree that something needs to be done. There is fox poo,Badger poo, Rabbet poo everywhere, Deer droppings, Horse poo, All types of Bird muck on the paths and in the trees,In the bushes can be seen paper tissues just left there. This is a real health hazard in the countryside, when I walk along the river in Monkmoor there is even Cow muck in the fields,So come on Shropshire Council can’t you do something about these animals just leaving there “POO” anywhere. What a health hazard it is to a old person like me.
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Sorry, I put an E instead of a i in rabbit.
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Im sorry you submitted 15 at all & regardless of the spelling.
Pointless twaddle – not even remotely funny.
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Ha ha John – please don’t forget the cats you know those wild one’s people keep spotting! There may even be a few wild boar and some flying pigs.
In years gone by didn’t there used to be white dog poo? I don’t see any of that these days – so something has improved.
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White dog excrement was allegedly caused by the inclusion of ground up bones in the dog food. The manufacturers seem to have stopped doing that, for some reason, possibly connected with BSE.
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Yes John, but humans don’t walk foxes, badgers, rabbits etc…. unless there is something I have missed all my life!!
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I walk my danes in many areas quarry in shrewsbury down the lanes by my home etc and if i can pick up after them granted i do walk with a small coal shovel and subscribe to the flick with a stick method if they do it on the lane I throw in to the field where their are no public footpaths may i add if they do it in the quarry I throw the doo da in to the river.
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I never thought I would see the day but I have to agree with John Jones on this one. Whoever wrote this needs to get a life!
There are always going to be some antisocial individuals who do not act responsibly whether it be clearing dog mess, multiple cat ownership, litter dropping, graffiti, vandalism, rowdy behaviour, poor road manners when driving, cycling on pavements inappropriately and so on.
I always feel that without the good aspects of dog walking we would be a worse off society. Many dog walkers pick up litter as well as their dogs mess. Dog walkers are out at anytime of the day and are renowned to be reliable reporters to the police of suspicious behaviour, witnesses to road accidents and available for a friendly chat as they are not always sitting behind closed doors watching TV or surfing the internet!
The risks to health are grossly exaggerated and there is a far greater number of cats who carry much more toxic diseases and tend to prefer well tended gardens for their relief.
Pigeons, squirrels, rats, mice, badgers,foxes and so on are soiling everywhere all the time so get real about this and enjoy life.
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Here’s an idea… if you and John love dog-mess so much, why don’t you open up your backgarden to all the local dog-owners and let them defecate all over your lawn.
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Of course, the above should be taken to mean that the dogs poo in your garden… letting the owners relieve themselves on your lawn as implied by my post, would just be disgusting.
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Do any of you swim in the sea in England? If you do then there is more poo in the sea then anywhere!!!! Its pumped in there
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mw. On a visit to a mid wales seaside resort early on this year, I was going to take my dogs on to the beach, but there was a sign saying that dogs were not allowed on the beach from the 1st May to the 30th September. Another dog owner who turned out to be local told me the reason. During the summer with all the influx of holiday makers, the towns population grows by 200% And all the extra sewage goes strait into the sea, and all the dogs have been ill, In October when they all go home it is safer to take them on the beach.
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It’s not just Shrewsbury, it is everywhere, including, god forbid, Telford! People who do’nt clean up after their dogs are lazy, irresponsible and thoughtless. No wonder so many dog walkers are out at 6am-7am, there is less chance of them being caught leaving this filth behind. Dog walkers, you know who you are…
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I frequebtly pick up other people’s dog poo on Wyle Cop. Think how many people walk up and down that street every day. How can dog owners be so irresponsible? If you get ‘caught short’ without a bag a shop will always give you one.
Our two dogs walk in the Quarry twice a day. We always pick up, even if it’s in places where people don’t walk. It takes seconds. Heaven forbid, I would be appalled if a child lost her or his sight because of my negligence
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Good on you Katherine, but it’s not your job. The lazy dog walkers will not care and will carry on!
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Some dog walkers love to pretend that dog poo is as natural as that of wild animals or farm animals. Dogs are domesticated animals and we treat them in an unatural way. When was the last time you fed tinned meat or doggy treats to a pigeon or badger? Secondly these wild and farm animals mainly eat grass or plants so their poo is not so toxic. If you tread on dog poo your shoe stinks wherever you go all day. Finally I don’t see a continual stream of badgers and pigeons parading around popular walks or on pavements in towns. Because they are wild animals they wander all over the place. Dogs only go where we go so we have a responsibility to clean up after them.
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Unhealthy mainly because the dog is a meat eater.
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While we are on this subject. I have visited many dog owners at home and their dogs are not constantly going to the toilet there. So do dog walkers stuff their dogs with as much food as they can before heading out for a walk or something? Judging by the mess they leave some dogs have real problems.
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I was brought up to believe dropping a sweet wrapper was wrong, how poorly must people who leave dog crap all over the place have been brought up? How selfish as they must know how much it upsets normal people? What is hanging it up on trees in plastic bags all about?
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Matt, you are so wrong about the dangers posed by dog faeces.
Cat faeces are way more toxic as are pigeons hence their designation as vermin and the need to discourage people feeding them and also the need to cull the populations occasionally.
The whole gist of this pointless post is that some people are inconsiderate.
Some are dog owners, some are cat owners some have no pets but drop litter.
Some use frequent air travel, some burn coal in the winter, some leave their car engines running unnecessarily.
Some don’t recycle, some are too fat and need more health resources, some drink too much and throw up everywhere.
Perhaps you can add a few?
BTW Moz, what defines normal people?
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EVA What an excellent reply.
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This really make me angry, people who don’t pick-up after their dogs give the rest of us a bad name. I think that providing bins do help – they seem to have made a difference at Bayston Hill as there seems to have been a reduction there since the introduction of the wheelie bins! Perhaps the presence of more dog wardens would help reduce the problem and make people realise just how important it is to clean-up after your dog!
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I walk my 3 young children to school along the Ellesmere Road in Shrewsbury daily and almost every morning we find yet another pile of dog poo and sometimes we find some extras which have arrived during the day when we are on our way home! We literally have to play dodge the dog muck. It would be nice to have a chat with my kids about their school day instead of having to shout at them to mind the dog muck but sadly I can’t.
These dog owners just don’t seem to care, there has even been a pile of it less that 4feet from the school gate which numerous children walked in, as they do, and no doubt carried into their classroom. Bearing in mind that the younger ones tend to sit on the floor for stories or for assembly this is particularly unpleasant, unhygenic and also has health risks.
Some people who have commented seem to be saying that dog poo isnt anymore toxic that any other kind of animal excrement, now I am not sure whether it is or it isn’t, but I do know that I would rather step in a cow pat than a pile of dog poo!
Lets face it, no one likes poo of any kind at the best of times, even if it has come out of your own dog – thats why you walk them isn’t it – so that they don’t do it all over your house and garden!!! So why, I ask, should the rest of us run the risk of stepping in it and walking it back into our homes.
Truthfully, I know that there are responsible dog owners out there who religiously take their dog mess home with them but some just don’t seem to care. Is it really fair that others, without dogs or with, should have to tread in it or continually watch where they walk? I wouldn’t drop the contents of my babies nappy in the street, or on a footpath so I don’t see why anyone should feel the need to leave their dogs excrement on the pavement either. Like a baby, a dog can’t clear up after itself, so the owner surely takes on this responsibility when they purchase their dog – just like I did when I had my children.
It seems to me that the offenders in my area mainly walk their dog at night when they think no one is looking – obviously there are no dog wardens watching then – so they can get away with it. I have spoken to the council about it several times and they are very helpful and have even cleaned the pavements in the past too, but I think its up to the local residents to try to identify the offending owner and pass their details to the council so that they can proceed with a prosecution. Lets stick together with this and get some action, obviously it’s not so easy to identify people when you see it happen at a local beauty spot, but if you see them doing it in your street why not try to find out where they are from and pass it on.
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