Too Posh to Pick Up?

Margaret Kay, whom many will recognise as the author of a Puppy Diary written for the old days when the Voice appeared on paper, has something to say about Dog Walkers Who Don’t.

I walked my dogs in Whiting Bay last week for the first time in a while, and was appalled at the ‘obstacle course’ of dog faeces I had to circumnavigate behind the row of shops in the Village. It was awful, and at this time of the year cannot be put down to visitors – it’s just lazy, inconsiderate locals. The abundance of mess was covering an area where children often walk when accessing the beach or the slip-way. There’s no issue for me about kids stepping in it and trailing it into the house as I don’t have a young family, but for many mums it is a nightmare. And even for me, there was so much mess that my dogs could hardly avoid it and would trail it into the back of the car and on to their rug.

I have spoken to the Banner and to the Local Authority today, and have arranged to be a pick- up point for dog poo bags when the Dog Club is held in Whiting Bay every Wednesday. Meanwhile, I am like the ‘poo police’. If I see someone allowing a dog to defecate and making no move to pick it up, my car screeches to a halt. I ask them what they are going to do about lifting the mess, and if they tell me they have forgotten to bring a bag I give them one – but it’s often obvious by the way they tackle picking the mess up that doing so is totally alien to them. Dog walkers need to remember that it is an offence not to clear up after your dog, and they may be fined for it.

When using Sandbraes Park for the dog agility classes in the summer months, we often have to clear up dog mess before we can put out the agility equipment. The occupants of one particular house in Sandbraes have been seen to just open their door and let their dogs run over to the park unsupervised.

I know they are having similar difficulties in Sliddery, where a few new houses, all with dogs, have been built and in Lochranza. Golf Course Road in Whiting Bay has the same problem – but particularly unforgivable was the person who let a dog leave a festering heap just outside Whiting Bay School, where the kids cross the road. The lollipop lady had to go looking for a poo bag – Barry Miggin to the rescue on that one – but it should not be down to a lollipop lady to pick up someone else’s dog mess so that the children can cross the road without stepping in faeces.

I really think we should get a campaign going to take on those who are ‘Too Posh to Pick Up’. I would be delighted to spearhead this and am sure we could get volunteers from each village to assist in enforcing the law and educating people about proper dog management.