Dog owners: Don’t be lazy – pick it up!

Whether you’re in a space that requires you to keep your dog on a lead or they can run free, you must always pick up after your dog.

Grab a couple of dog-poo bags with you every time you go out.

If you don’t, you can be fined £100.

It is important to pick up dog poo properly because it can be a health hazard for humans and other animals. If you leave dog poo somewhere a child or adult may step in it – we all know how horrible that is – you risk making them very sick. In rare cases, it can even lead to brain damage and blindness.

Even if a dog poos somewhere you feel does not pose a risk to humans, leaving dog poo lying around could be dangerous for other dogs as it can spread parvovirus. Dog poo left on the ground can also have a very serious effect.

Whilst the vast majority of dog owners do the right thing, unfortunately it’s not 100%. We all known the ‘poo hotspots’ around Wigton – behind the Junior School, footpath to Wigton Baths, Speet Gill… and now Barton Laws football pitches. And that’s a real problem.

If you are aware of a regular dog fouling issue, you can report it on Allerdale Borough Council’s website or My Allerdale app.

https://www.allerdale.gov.uk/en/report/report-dog-mess/

Top tips

• Never let your dog walk too far from you as this makes it difficult to see where they foul.
• Dogs will usually foul soon after being let off the lead or out of the car/at the start of a walk so be ready.
• Pay attention at all times to what your dog is doing, don’t be distracted – especially not by your mobile ’phone!
• Always carry poo bags. It’s an offence not to carry the ‘means’ to pick up.
• Take a torch with you on dark evenings and early morning walks in winter – darkness is not an excuse for laziness.
• Dispose of bags in a dog or litter bin, or take it home to dispose of in your household bin.
• Not disposing of a bag correctly is also a dog fouling and littering offence.
• Keep your dog off sports pitches and out of children’s playgrounds.
• Even if you clean up poo from a pitch, residual deposits can remain. We’ve had youngsters covered in poo and it is disgusting.
• Dog faeces left on grazing or farm land can contaminate water courses and grass where cattle and sheep graze. These sheep and cattle may eventually find their way into the food chain.
• Please pick up after your dogs on country walks – do not use the so-called “stick and flick method.

To read more about Allerdale Borough Council’s policy on dogs in public places, visit:

https://www.allerdale.gov.uk/en/your-environment/dogs-public-places/