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WIGAN, England, February 3/PRNewswire/ --
Owners who persistently let their pooch poop on public land should have their pets TAKEN AWAY FROM THEM and be banned from ever keeping a dog again.
So say 76% of respondents to a new Keep Britain Tidy poll published today (Friday 3rd of February). And while the Campaign itself doesn't back such drastic action, it reckons these results show just how DISGUSTED the public are with those who turn our parks, beaches and pavements into a canine convenience.
"Because we know the health dangers of dog dirt and how unpleasant it is when it ends up on your shoes, we despise fouling in public places and those who allow it to happen" said Alan Woods, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy. "While we don't believe that the threat of taking away someone's pet is the answer, we can understand the anger that drove 68,000 people to complain about errant owners to their local authority last year."
The good news is that those self-same councils are now collaring more offenders than ever before. Virtually every authority who responded to a Keep Britain Tidy survey (also unveiled today) now employs Dog Wardens - with councils handing out over 7,000 on-the-spot fines to errant owners last year. Amongst those hounding offenders is Coventry Council whose "Peddling against Poop" initiative has seen animal welfare officers get on mountain bikes to patrol areas across the city.
Campaigning messages have also got stronger. Last year, Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council unleashed posters featuring a toddler under the slogan, "At his age he will put anything in his mouth" - to get owners to bag and bin their pooch pap. Keep Britain Tidy visuals, picturing a real dog poo under the strap-lines, "No", "Bull" and "Tough" have also been plastered on bins recently in Barnsley, Chesterfield, Darlington, Oldham, Sheffield and Vale Royal (Cheshire).
"Put simply, owners need reminding again and again of the need to pick-up after their pet" continued Alan Woods. "At the beginning of the decade, we made a huge reduction in the amount of fouling, but any laxness in education or meting-out proper punishments to those who will not listen, will see dog fouling rise again."
With powers under the new Clean Neighbourhoods and Environments Act (2005) allowing wardens to dish-out GBP75 fines to slip-shod owners, Alan reckons councils now have the strongest possible measures available to bring offenders to book. But the key to cracking the problem remains - in the hands of the public.
Concluded Alan Woods: "I look forward to a time where children don't get poo on their hands because a dog has pooped in a park or finds fouling on their feet because a beach was covered in it. To achieve that, we need every owner to clear up after their pet and every right-minded citizen to complain if they don't. Dog dirt may disgust but it won't disappear until all of us take the lead and treat our streets properly."
