Council need to take the lead on dog fouling
Leaving your dog’s excrement behind is reprehensible enough. (Calling it ‘poo’is too polite!) But leaving it in an area where children play football is unacceptably disgusting.
And one child being covered in this dangerous filth is one too many.
No wonder parents and the public around Troon’s Marr College Playing Fields are upset and angry.
South Ayrshire Council’s response is to urge people to call the police – er, which they are already doing! – and installing dog fouling signs, which . . .er, already exist. The pitches are already fenced off to the unauthorised public. But in my experience, gangs of youths armed with bolt-cutters don’t usually flee in panic at the sight of a dog-fouling sign. And I don’t think the dogs can read either! One solution might be to take a lead – excuse the pun – from a popular Spanish tourist resort.
Exasperated by constant fouling on their Costa beach, they decided to employ the one creature that knows more about dog s**t than any other.
Another dog! After getting a quick nostril-full, the hound was trained to trace it back to where the dog came from – usually all within dog-walking distance! Anyone wishing to contest the instant 100 Euro fine risked having it raised to 500! Repeat offenders face 1000 Euro fines. I’m told the local council in Malaga was asked how they would catch the dirty dogs who arrived by car. The police commissioner was ready for them. Roughly translated, his answer was, “Senor, when your dog needs a numero dos – you don’t put it in your car!”.