Bag it, bin it, pick it up!
Youngsters target area
Primary pupils at St Louise are kicking up a stink over lazy dog walkers who leave the paths surrounding their school covered in pet poo.
Children from primary five have been working hard to make sure their local area is clean and safe by raising awareness of dog fouling.
The school hope to win a John Muir Award on the back of their campaign.
The environmental accolade encourages children to get out and about and enjoy their local parks and wildlife.
But, on a recent visit to Baird Park in The Murray, their playtime fun was being spoiled by dog mess.
Pupil Caleb Welch said: “It’s horrible because it gets on your shoes and might get into your house. If you have toddlers it could be really dangerous.”
Classmate Luisa Gray added: “It’s not fair because we want to enjoy rolling down the hill and having picnics but dog fouling means we can’t.”
The kids put up anti-dog fouling posters and handed out leaflets around St Louise and Heathery Knowe primary schools to urge dog owners to clean up their act.
And the adventurous P5 class decided to go even further to draw attention to the issue by painting all the dog poo they found bright blue.
Daria Dlugolecka said: “We covered 150 bits of dog dirt blue so that people will notice them and not step on them by accident.”
Pupils plan to revisit the park and surrounding streets in the next few weeks to see if the situation has improved so they can fully enjoy the area during their summer holidays.
Parent Joanna Baker – who has hit out at irresponsible dog owners in the News – praised the “fantastic” efforts of the kids.
She added: “This is a real issue.”