I’ve just come back from a ‘litter pick’ on Longridge Fell. It was a misty day with nothing better to do. The bag was half full of dog poo bags. My last post involved a lovely walk with Poppy, an Airedale terrier, and her responsible owner. No litter of any sort, human or canine, was deposited. Most dog owners I meet and chat to are insistent that they always clear up and dispose of sensibly. (Shazza and Eunice included I’m sure)
So, who are responsible for all those poo bags scattered across the countryside. Certainly not the dogs themselves. I suspect the same people who blazingly walk around the supermarket unmasked, who throw rubbish out of car windows, who park illegally in disabled bays, who block the pavements with their SUVs, who cut you up at motorway junctions with a finger in the air. Correct me if I’m biased, I’m getting old and crusty.
Come on, you selfish dog owners, bag it and take it home with you. Have a bit of responsibility, think about the environment and not yourselves.
Quite a collection – who will dispose of it?
Don’t get me started on this one. It’s a mystery to me. Not having a dog I imagine the hardest part it picking it up. Then all you have to do is take it home. I believe the effect, when a doggie bag is lurking in the long grass and struck by an unsuspecting council strimmer, is spectacular.
Sleep well.
Drives us mad too
Unfortunately it is almost impossible to police even if it was comprehensively listed as a criminal offence, this gleaned from the Internet:
“Is it illegal to leave dog poop in a public area?
It’s illegal to leave dog waste in the majority of public spaces. However, you can avoid getting a fine if you leave mess in areas used for agriculture or woodland. The law also doesn’t apply on rural common land, marshland and motorways”
Perhaps if the law did cover those exempt areas listed above and a fine or jail sentence maximum almost out of proportion and rigorously enforced by magistrates to award the maximum it may have some deterrent effect. Those few that are caught should be used as an example with maximum penalties given and massive publicity given by the media. They may even give up some of their space allotted to the latest celebrity breast implants?
Oh! I’m on a roll now. What about a Poo Awareness Course where attendees are made to walk through a load of the stuff terminating where their car is parked and without any appropriate means of cleansing prior to their journey home?
You didn’t mention hanging.
Too quick. They need to suffer.
I like Conrad’s idea of a Poo Awareness Course 🙂 I saw a great notice when I was in Wales the other week – “Volunteers and rangers cut and strim along the paths for you and your four-legged friends to enjoy – please remove your dog mess so we don’t get covered in it” and there was a picture of a guy’s leg covered in streaks of dog poo 🙁
I think every jacket I own has poo bags in each pocket so I never take the dogs out without them, and I’ve been known to reach a supermarket check out and pull out a handful of poo bags instead of a carrier bag 🙂
I acknowledged that you were highly responsible – but I now wonder if you try to pay your bills at the checkout with poo bags – you didn’t say whether they were in active use or not!
Ha ha – unused ones of course, in fact Wilko’s scented nappy bags, they smell lovely 🙂
Like Eunice I seem to have poo bags ( empty ones : ) ) in all my pockets and pull out handfuls at totally the wrong times.
I fear I may leave a trail of empty poo bags on days when gloves go on and off. Thankfully our local dog walkers’ behaviour (generally pretty considerate) is of minor concern compared with the ASB seen on Panorama last night.
Well done on your litter picking, BC, much preferable to PMQs (I can’t bear to watch that…)
Missed Panorama, will have a look on catchup.
I wouldn’t – it’ll only upset you.