I’ve just come back from a holiday in Austria, which has to be a dog lovers country – there’s no end of dogs accompanying their owners everywhere.
But however hard I tried I couldn’t find any evidence of these dogs leaving a poo anywhere. Now, either Austrian dogs don’t do poos or there’s another explanation.
Somehow I think part of the answer is due to the fact that in every place a dog is likely to take a dump, there was a poo bag dispenser nearby. These machines either sold or dispensed free biodegradable poo bags so there’s no excuse for the owner not to have the means of disposal.
I’ve seen similar dispensers by the Cow and Calf in Ilkley, so why not in South Leeds? They could be maintained by voluntary groups along the same lines that Beeston in Bloom maintain the flower boxes around the area, with funding from the council to provide the machines and the doggy bag refills.
This article was written by David Florence using our Community Reporters website
It’s a possibility and a good idea – but I think the problem is mainly attitude. There are plenty of litter bins in Cross Flatts Park but despite this, whenever there is a sunny day and people go out to sunbathe, piles of rubbish are left all over the green space. If people can’t be bothered to pick up their rubbish which defaces the area they are supposedly enjoying, what hope is there that they will pick up dog poo?
Sam, thanks for your comment.
It’s true. You can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. People’s attitudes need to change as well as the council providing the facilities.
We’ve had them in Blackpool for a while and unfortunately it is an attitude problem. The bags are provided free by the Council and stocked regularly by Council staff, however there are many reports of the dispensers being emptied as soon as they are filled by dog owners who take handfuls (and pocketfuls) of the free bags, leaving none for anyone else…and still the poo problem persists. I would suggest that South Leeds saves it’s and lobbies the council to fund the training of volunteers to issue fixed penalty notices to offending dog owners.
It isn’t that easy to ask dog owners to pick up their dog’s poo, especially when leaving it on the ground is obviously a deliberate decision (the owner is looking at the dog while it poos). I’m not sure that volunteers would be allowed to issue fixed penalty notices, as even with training they wouldn’t have authority. The best thing to do, if you’re keen, is to find out where the owner lives (trail them home) and then report them to your local councillor, who will alert the dog warden service. The Dog Warden Service wants to take people to court but needs witnesses prepared to testify. A few big fines, publicised, would cause others to think twice. If you aren’t prepared to testify, but do know where the dog owner lives, you can still tell your councillor and the dog warden will go to the house and offer bags and encouragement to the owners. Might work.
As the Secretary of Cross Flatts Park I find people tell me about dog owners who offend but the description is usually on lines of, “The man with the big Alsatian who lives somewhere in the Nosters”. Without more exact info nothing can be done and Nosterman’s dog will carry on pooing.
Campaigns where you distribute a small number of bags and a leaflet to as many dog owners as possible over a short period of time, e.g. a week, have worked in the past and the Friends would like to do this again – will set a date and let everyone know.