to report this non-picking-up-dog-poo-owner to the police?

[BeautifulBlondePineapple]

I was in our village centre yesterday and saw a dog not on a lead. As I was watching it, it crapped beside a tree (pedestrian street, tree in middle of street).

I figured out who the dog belonged to, but they were just going into a shop. I told him about what the dog had just done & pointed to where the offending item lay. He assured me that his wife had bags & they'd pick it up when they got out the shop.

I checked later. They didn't.

The village has CCTV. Should I report them to the police or will I be laughed out of the station?

Report to council and they will send a dog warden to monitor.

It depends on how tiny the village is and whether they have enough time and resources to check it out.

I would go for this approach, myself...

Obviously I wouldn't really, but it's probably effective!

Op, are you actually serious?

And yes, I do think you will be laughed out of the station. Yes, its annoying when someone lets their dog crap everywhere but its hardly the crime of the century !

It's a council matter I think.

Who operates the CCTV? Not sure how much investigation the council would be prepared to do.

ooh, I hate people who do this - they should not have a dog if they refuse to clean up after it. I posted about this a few weeks ago when my dd trod in a pile of it outside our house (which incidently also has a sign put up by the council saying if you don't pick the shit up you'll be liable for a £1000 fine.) How do they catch the feckers though?

I think it is the crime of the century (well not literally but...) dog shit is dangerous.

Where I live you can report it to the parish council and in fact they ask for people to keep an eye out. I don't think its a criminal offence though so I wouldn't report to the police.

I've just checked - it is now a criminal offense not to clean up after your dog.

I agree with perception - it is a serious crime because of the dangers associated with it.

If you get burgled, it doesn't make you go blind but nobody would describe burglary as "hardly the crime of the century". Dog shit can make children go blind so it is a very serious crime and much much more should be done about it.

OP, if your camera has a phone you should take a picture. Council will issue a warning based on that.

I'm not sure why our society doesn't clamp down on this problem.

I think the problem is that it's hard to catch people in the act of doing it. Where I live, if caught you can get a £1000 fine.

An old lady let her dog crap in our driveway this morning and then started to walk off. She was pretty embarrassed when I stormed outside in a huff, and said she didn't have any bags with her (so I rather helpfully got her one ).

I would report it if you know who it is. It's disgusting.

haha Engel - good for you :)

I hate it when people don't clean up after their dogs no later than early this week I stepped into dog crap it did really annoy me!

I wouldn't report it but go and have a word about it to the dog's owner telling him how unpleasant it is!

Drives me barmy. One of our neighbours - haven't worked out who - takes their dog to shit in the shared alleyway behind our houses, so that the DDs & me can play dogshit hopscotch on the way to school every day.

i'd report it to the environmental health, they will happily investigate as the dog owner will get a fine.

One of my neighbours has a lovely GS who always has a ball or a frisbee in his mouth when he goes out.
I watched neighbour scooping dog pooh up in a bag while the GS stood with a "Yep, I'll carry the ball but I'm not carrying that, Dad" look on his face .

Hmm i already have a post up about the dangers of dog poo so I'm definitely in agreement with OP. People who own dogs need to be responsible for their mess. There's no way of telling if owners worm their dogs or not so no way of telling which pile could send you blind.. It is illegal and the sooner some selfish dog owners face up to their responsibility , the better!

I agree entirely with OP, not clearing up after your dog is horrid and antisocial. The risks of contacting Toxocariasis are not that high though, with the NHS saying about 10 cases a year with blindness being avery rare complication here
It is bad enough getting your shoes and clothes covered with the stuff without going too overboard worrying about anything else.

Higgle I thought that it was 10 reported cases of blindness while there are lots of other instances where it has been contracted but not migrated to the eye...either way it's still a horrible thought!

Report!, it is foul & selfish.

Definitely report them - even if they only get a warning, it might make them think twice next time.

I'm a huge dog lover (and a dog owner) and it makes me sick and angry to see dog shit everywhere.

I posted the link to the website which has the figure I mentioned.

Report them! I've had three horrid instances where a disabled friend (wheelchair user) got shit all over her hands (bad enough on your shoes!) and when my DD had the misfortune to land in some when she fell over, 3 year old with shit all over her hand, on her coat etc and we were in countryside so not easy to clean up, also my brother playing football, headed football that had just gone in shit and ended up with dog shit in his hair - all completely gross . Its simple to me, if you don't want to pick up shit, don't own a dog?