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AIBU?

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Original poster

To say don’t put dog poo in bags

143 replies

GoogolB · 06/03/2025 14:26

…if you’re not going to take the bag with you or stick it in the bin.

Went for a walk in local woodland for the first time since last summer and the path is strewn with poo filled bags. It’s really revolting. If you’re not going to take it home, it would be far better to flick it into the undergrowth and let it decompose. Leaving the bagged poo is surely the worst option?

OP posts:
BIossomtoes · 06/03/2025 18:24

cryinglaughing · 06/03/2025 17:58

Absolutely nothing offensive about horse poo but it is very offensive having to pick dog poo out of their hooves 🤢

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There certainly is. Cleaning up a dog that’s rolled in horseshit is horrible.

KellySeveride · 06/03/2025 18:12

TheGander · 06/03/2025 18:10

I’m not a horse owner but I do have an allotment and I can’t get enough of the stuff. It’s not offensive to me.

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Okay I’ll concede to the fact that not every non horse owner finds horse shit offensive. But I imagine a vast majority don’t particularly want to be dealing with it.

TheGander · 06/03/2025 18:10

KellySeveride · 06/03/2025 18:08

That’s like me saying my kids shit don’t smell!

Of course horse shit is offensive to those who don’t own them!

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I’m not a horse owner but I do have an allotment and I can’t get enough of the stuff. It’s not offensive to me.

Onthemove4 · 06/03/2025 18:09

SpunkyKoala · 06/03/2025 15:19

@Boredlass please can you tell me the brand you are using I’ve bought a few that are meant to do that which just don’t - you may have my holy grail

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And please can you tell me there wasn’t a poo in it 😀

TheGander · 06/03/2025 18:08

dawngreen · 06/03/2025 18:06

what about the used needles and human waste

I come across that as well. I think some rough sleepers poo in bags and dump them.

KellySeveride · 06/03/2025 18:08

cryinglaughing · 06/03/2025 17:58

Absolutely nothing offensive about horse poo but it is very offensive having to pick dog poo out of their hooves 🤢

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That’s like me saying my kids shit don’t smell!

Of course horse shit is offensive to those who don’t own them!

TheGander · 06/03/2025 18:07

I go litter picking in my neighbourhood, I’m not a dog owner and it’s been a revelation how many full dog poo bags are lurking in the undergrowth. It’s gross, but I pick them up, put them in my big bin bag and then a council bin. It’s just bizarre to me that you’d pick up, bag it, and then toss the bag away. Is it a sign that some dog owners just aren’t coping with the amount of poo management that having a dog entails?

KellySeveride · 06/03/2025 18:07

cryinglaughing · 06/03/2025 14:56

I ride a horse, the amount of dog crap on the off road tracks is shocking, the worst I can remember it.
People don't even bother flicking it, it stays wherever it was laid.
There are some scruffy people around.

Edited

I wouldn’t mind seeing the size of the bags you use to pick your horse’s crap up with.

dawngreen · 06/03/2025 18:06

what about the used needles and human waste

samarrange · 06/03/2025 18:06

As a recent convert to walking dogs (we don't own one but adult DC does), I've become quite good at picking up poo using the bag as a glove. Sometimes when on the morning walk I try to guess if the dog will do another in the next few minutes so I can double-dip, rather than putting the bag straight into the nearest Vladimir (the poo-tin).

However, when walking in a wooded area I mostly use stick-and-flick to get it well away from the footpath, or perhaps a show flick if I'm wearing trainers and the poo looks fairly solid. It will be gone in 48 hours and there are all kinds of other animals doing exactly the same thing. The point is not to collect the poo for recycling, it's to keep it off people's feet and/or children's hands, at the minimum cost to the environment and (a bit) yourself. When I see a poo bag hanging in a tree I think "These people are allowed to vote" and shudder a bit.

vodkaredbullgirl · 06/03/2025 18:06

valder · 06/03/2025 17:57

Dog nappies and leads mandatory.

😂 dog nappies

cryinglaughing · 06/03/2025 17:58

AngelinaFibres · 06/03/2025 15:53

Oh the irony

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Absolutely nothing offensive about horse poo but it is very offensive having to pick dog poo out of their hooves 🤢

valder · 06/03/2025 17:57

Dog nappies and leads mandatory.

Crumpleton · 06/03/2025 17:52

I can remember a few years ago, hot sunny day walking along paths that had a river one side and over grown grassy area the other.
People that walked dogs there used the 'stick and flick' method to flick the dog poo into the over grown grass area and the stench due to the hot weather was awful.

Also see people out walking dogs in wooded areas just using their shoe to cover their dog poo with fallen leaves, no thought for others that may walk the area treading in it.

Chuchoter · 06/03/2025 17:40

Some areas that I go to, the forest rangers will stop dog walkers and ask them to stick and flick because the problem with discarded bags hanging from trees or left to pile up at gates etc is a horrible job for them to clear up.

Porcuporpoise · 06/03/2025 17:38

CautiousLurker01 · 06/03/2025 15:40

Really? So what about the other wildlife - the foxes, wild rabbits, badgers, deer or the horses being ridden through the same woodland? It’s a wildlife area where LOTS of animals are pooping and peeing every day, all day. Every bit of soil you walk on has likely been pooped or shat on by some animal at some point, and composted!

I still remove my dogs’ poops though, just to be clear.

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The wildlife dogs are most similar to is maybe wolves. Wolf packs - and other large predators- have huge territories, their population density is low. Far less carnivore shit entering the system per square kilometer than your average dog population dumps on their local green space.

AprilF00L · 06/03/2025 17:37

YABU OP only because children play in the woods. People walk "off-piste". Dog walkers that leave poo bags give all dog walkers a very bad name. They should be ashamed of themselves.

dawngreen · 06/03/2025 17:36

SwishMyCape · 06/03/2025 14:56

It's quite a lot of faff to bag a poo.

I feel confident that for every single bagged poo the owner genuinely thought 'i'll pick this up on the way back' or 'ill just put this down while I check my messages'. Which is why they are often hung on tree branches 'that will remind me'

So here's my solution.

If you have ever bagged a poo then you have certainly - at some point, perhaps often- accidentally left a bagged poo lying around. Therefore, if you own a dog, you should pick up and bin a bagged poo when you see one. It's the only way to restore the equilibrium.

😀

Nope never forgotten one, and I would never hang around to collect others. Because you always get one jobsworth who will run over and accuse you of not picking up.

greengreyblue · 06/03/2025 17:34

Hekett · 06/03/2025 17:32

I’m always scared people judge me in a similar way. But I bag it up, leave it somewhere conspicuous, then collect the bags and bin them on way way back on routes where there are no bins! A few walkers I know do the same as there’s only one bin at each side of the main walking route.

we do always collect them up though!

Yes lots of people do this. So not necessarily left.

Hekett · 06/03/2025 17:32

I’m always scared people judge me in a similar way. But I bag it up, leave it somewhere conspicuous, then collect the bags and bin them on way way back on routes where there are no bins! A few walkers I know do the same as there’s only one bin at each side of the main walking route.

we do always collect them up though!

greengreyblue · 06/03/2025 17:31

Yes most but means nothing as they all get incinerated I think! Not good. That’s why if I can I stick and flick

Zebedee999 · 06/03/2025 17:31

StrawberrySquash · 06/03/2025 14:40

I feel in a bag it's more likely to get cleared by someone picking litter. And it's easier not to step on, or if you do, hopefully will be less messy.

But all solutions are bad!

I litter pick a lot around here but the one thing I won't touch is dog poo bags.

Zebedee999 · 06/03/2025 17:30

Pleasedontputthatthere · 06/03/2025 14:49

The bags are compostable but it still takes years and years for that to happen. I often wonder if flicking into the undergrowth is the better thing to do.

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Are ALL dog poo bags compostable nowadays?

Topsyturvy78 · 06/03/2025 17:19

It's definitely better to bag. I saw a post the other day from a farmer. They said there's something in dog's poo. When it rains the poo can run into farmer's fields. If a cow eats some of the contaminated grass it can cause them to abort their calves. Not just when pregnant it stays in there system. If they don't abort they can pass it onto their calves as well. What is disgusting is when they hang it up. If you don't want to pick up and take home though don't get a dog.