Rugby club makes appeal to dog owners

A RUGBY club has appealed to dog owners to clean up after themselves after having to pick up multiple piles of dog waste before a game.

Baglan RFC claimed it had been a problem for more than 10 years, with volunteer coaches having to clean up after “lazy” owners.

With the club recording a recordbreaking number of players and junior sections, it wants to highlight the dangers of dog mess for players.

Despite there being four poo bins situated around the field, club coaches say they have to inspect the pitch daily before every game for health and safety reasons.

And the club is not the only one suffering from “lazy owners”. A Kenfig Hill RFC player spent Christmas in hospital after his leg became infected with dog poo last year.

The Baglan club have said no dogs are allowed on the field at any time.

“Yesterday my nephew was playing on the field and had it running all up and down his leg and last week we were picking up loads before a senior game – it is a regular occurrence,” said committee member and coach Darryl Thomas.

With the field a popular destination for dog walkers, the club have looked at fencing off the surrounding area in order to combat the problem. But complications around planning permission and finances have meant the club have had to endure the dog mess issue.

“There are so many dangers surrounding it, especially with children, it can blind them. It just feels like we are beating against a wall with it,” added Mr Thomas.