So much dog poo - what can be done?

[AntiDogPooBrigade]

Fines aren't working. Dog wardens are nowhere to be seen. Increase in dogs has meant a huge increase in the amount of poo on our pavements and in our parks. I am beyond fed up of it.

We need to do something. But what?

And before the dog people pile on saying it's only the minority, it's only a few, they've never seen dog poo on the pavement, I attach EIGHT photos from this morning alone, that I took on a small stretch of road where my DC go to school. I have reported this street to the council, as it is prolific here, and they cleaned it on Friday. So all this poo is fresh from sometime after Friday afternoon, to now. And it is not just one dog.

I do if I'm nearly home and won't be passing a bin. In my area the bins are for litter/dog waste which is stated on front of bin. Not sure if this is the case throughout the UK.

I agree. I never used to dislike dogs, and I know it is the people's fault, but I am so at the end of my tether now, I just wish they'd all go and live on a different island.

We live near a popular wood and our street is covered. Theres an alleyway to get to our street from the main estate and before you get to the woods. I call I dog poo alley as most shit there. It's disgusting. My kids have to dodge it all the way to school and it's mostly on pavements not even on the grass.

I genuinely wonder what dog owners who leave the poo think, when they step in a dog poo. Do they think “fair game” or “that’s fucking grim”?

I wish lots of people would go and live on a different island and leave me in peace. There are far worse people on this island than dog walkers surely?

That’s really good to hear, I wish more owners did the same.

It's disgusting. It's at the point now where DC can't even run around on the playing fields for all the shit. We've even found poo in the play area - where dogs are not supposed to be! No dog owner ever admits to not picking up, yet there's shit everywhere... where do they suppose it's coming from?

Maybe the council could get together with some groups of people who they can pay to pick it up as a job, have like a walking group who do it or something?

Owners who don't pick up aren't going to start picking up. It's just the truth. They don't do it because they dont want to.

I have a large dog. It's not a pleasant job but I do it because I am not a selfish mannerless oik.

Fines won't help-a lot of folk just won't pay it even if they get one, which is rare as who is watching? Dog wardens are borderline extinct, most witnesses aren't going to be bothered and will tut and turn a blind eye.

Free bags won't help, they're cheap anyway, it isn't because someone can't afford £1 for bags.

The only time I recently didn't pick up was when my dog was ill unbeknownst to me. What came out was basically brown water (literally, I don't mean like diarrhea, it was pure liquid). Impossible to pick up. In my defence it was in the middle of the road late at night, and would have been washed away or at worst ended up on someone's car tyres, rather than it being something to be stepped in.

You think councils can afford dog poo patrols?

I agree with the modern tracing idea of DNA testing the Dog when it is registered at the shire. Coupled with CCTV cameras, council workers can then trace the dog and hand out large fines.
Three fines and the owner loses the chance of having any other dogs registered and can not legally own another. And they see their own photo published on a council site for rude dog owners.

Op, you could start putting up photos of dog poo bags that you find and also photos of the dogs you suspect on the town face book page asking whether the poo bag's owner dropped and lost it? Suggest that they come and collect it outside the local Police Station? Keep repeating those posts...

I saw a video just this morning of someone picking up their dog's shit, tying the bag up and dropping it in the shopping basket on one of those PAYG bicycles!

I agree - bring back dog licences! Well done to the PP who got someone fined for it.

I can't say I've noticed a lot on the pavements near me thankfully, but when we go for a country walk there is a lot. It very much seems to be that people assume that if no-one is there to see you, you don't need to pick it up. Vile.

I agree in principal, but our local dog warden has a website of all its found dogs and despite there being a law about microchipping dogs, the majority of dogs listed don't have one or, if they do, they're unregistered.

So, as I say, I agree in principal, but too many people will just totally ignore it.

I report each one to our council (love clean streets app) - usually cleared the same day. I get that it is a cost to the council but eventually they will do something about it if enough people report it.

There was a thread recently on here about someone's council who had removed 3 (I think) bins and a lot more dog poo around as a result-said they couldn't afford to maintain the bins or something. People had began hanging carrier bags from fences and folk used those. Who would be emptying them though? Just some kind volunteer who doesn't mind lugging bags of sh1t about?

The councils need to stop and randomly interview dog walkers - asking for their registrations. Doggie is removed in van until owner rectifies the registration.

Any dog owner caught out in this disgusting behaviour should be given the choice of putting the offending material back into the dog or eating it up with a spoon to teach them manners.

Sorry but dogs go to the toilet when they need to. You can’t make it illegal for a dog to shit in the woods. You can make it much much more likely they will be caught not picking it up and given a massive fine.

I stopped an elderly woman a few weeks back after she was walking her dog and it was just pooping as it walked, meant it wasn’t in a pile and little marbles just dotted along the path. She hasn’t even noticed!

EXACTLY!! I would looooove to get a cute fluffy cuddly dog but I don't want to contually pick up poo so I don't get 1!!

Sorry if this has already been suggested, but I think if we bring back the dog licences and use the funds for really excellent street vacuum/washing vehicles, with perhaps rucksack type smaller units for woodlands and countryside paths, it might help.
Much as I would like the DNA testing of dog poo, I think that would be prohibitively expensive.
I live on the corner of the main street in a village, and occasionally get dog poo outside my house. I put a LARGE notice up in the window, with an arrow pointing to the offending deposit, and lots of comments about anti social behaviour and suggestions to do the right thing. It generally disappears after that, although occasionally, we have to do it.

I don't know what can be done but it's disgusting, I have two dogs and cannot fathom why on earth you would have a dog if you aren't going to pick up after them, it makes me feel embarrassed as a dog owner to know others behave like this!

Yes it’s vile round here too. Every day walking to school I’m having to tell the kids to mind the poo multiple times. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was just the odd poo here and there but some areas are completely covered with several piles of poo smeared all over the pavement. We do have those street cleaners mentioned earlier in the thread but unfortunately they only do the road so the pavements remain covered. I didn’t know there was a way to report it so I’m going to look at that app and see if it covers my area

Requiring dogs to be on a short leash at all times when not in an offleash dog area might help. I've seen people cluelessly sloping along, staring at their phone, while their dog (unleashed or on an overly long leash) hangs back and squeezes out a shit. Grim.

It's a shame, because I know some dogs and owners do fine without leashes and use the extendible ones responsibly, but I think it's going to be one of those "this is why we can't have nice things" issues, where something has to be banned because some people don't use it properly.

It's so bad

Loads round here, just gross

You can train many dogs to prefer to go on some surfaces more than others, but it would be impossible to have all dogs trained to only defecate at home, even if every owner was 100% committed to this.

DNA testing just isn't feasible, sadly. It's an expensive process that just won't provide value for money in terms of impact.

The only solution is community enforcement IMO - like neighbourhood watch for bad dog owners. Presenting the council with evidence makes them happy to enforce as they'll make money with minimal effort. The money raised could be used to supply more bins (further encouraging) and to support street cleaning (benefitting everyone and encouraging more people to value their public spaces - as in broken window theory). The community approach will encourage compliance as owners will be wondering who's watching. Combined, the social acceptability of leaving behind dog mess becomes much reduced and helps support compliance further.

I say this as a dog owner. Anecdotally, the people I see who don't pick up mostly are the elderly, which may be to do with mobility issues. The stereotype of the lazy dog owner doesn't really hold true in my area as these types CBA to walk their dogs anyway (and then wonder why they have behavioural problems).