Power of pink in fouling fight
Locals use spray paint to highlight hotspots
Locals using spray paint to hightlight hotspots
Comrie residents fed up with the filthy practice of dog fouling have come up with a possible solution.
They are using environmentally friendly cans of pink spray paint to highlight the hotspots and shame persistent perpetrators into cleaning up their act.
Community councillor Pauline Toole came up with the idea, which she tried out at the village’s recent litter pick, and now other residents are carrying the cans with them while out on walks.
And community councillors want to see people who witness dog fouling to report it to Perth and Kinross Council as it is the local authority that issues warning letters and fixed penalty notices.
Comrie CC secretary Andrew Thomson told the Herald that people need to distinguish between the community council and the region’s local authority.
He said: “The community council are getting the complaints but people need to realise they should report directly to Perth and Kinross Council.
“The community council is as concerned about this as the community but at the end of the day all we can do is report it to the local authority the same as the individual, so individuals need to report it directly to PKC instead of to us.”
PKC records show that between April 2015 and April 2016 only eight complaints were received concerning dog fouling in Comrie, from a total of 434 for the whole of the Perth and Kinross Council area.
Of these, five pointed at a particular problem in Strowan Road.
A spokesperson for the council told the Herald: “We are still investigating the complaints regarding persistent fouling in Strowan Road and as yet it has not been possible to identify those responsible.
“During April 2016, our animal welfare officers have carried out patrols in Comrie focusing on Strowan Road as well as targeting the road with our ‘If They Don’t Bin It, Drop Them In It’ initiative to encourage reports by the local community.
“Unfortunately, no further information has been received from the public.
“We would again stress the importance of residents reporting issues to us with as much detail as possible, including times, descriptions etc.
“Detailed intelligence from the community helps enable our officers to effectively and efficiently target resources to deal with dog fouling.”
This year PKC has been successful in catching offenders – with, so far, 69 offenders issued with fixed penalty notices. Ten of these were in Crieff. None were issued in Comrie or Muthill.
And since the last report to the community council in mid-March, PKC received another 80 service requests from around the region regarding dog fouling – of which six related to the Crieff area and one in Comrie, a general complaint with no specific details. There were no complaints received regarding Muthill.
Comrie Community Council is also encouraging an initiative where responsible dog walkers tie a spare bag to their dog leads which can be given to anyone that requires one.
Reports can be made online or by telephone to the council’s customer service centre on 01738 476476.
PKC’s operations service will also be informed of the fouling and will take steps to inspect and collect as necessary.