Dog fouling: time to get the owners prosecuted

The other Friday Carla persuaded me to join her and the Plodding Along group on an hour's run/walk.
Dog foulingDog fouling
Dog fouling

We set off along the pedestrian promenade in Heysham and the idea was to run or walk at our own pace towards Morecambe for half an hour before turning and making our way back.

As I was gasping and staggering my way back, I thought I really must stop falling for Carla’s persuasion, although it was all in a good cause: raising money for the Ryan Stanford Appeal.

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In all honesty, I can’t say I enjoyed the run, however, it was nice to meet up with the Plodders again, many of whom supported our carnival fundraising Casino Night.

Chairman  of Morecambe Carnival  organising committee David Brayshaw.Chairman  of Morecambe Carnival  organising committee David Brayshaw.
Chairman of Morecambe Carnival organising committee David Brayshaw.

One thing I did notice while I was out (and something I’ve become increasingly annoyed about while out running generally) is that dog fouling continues to be a significant problem.

I saw a letter in the Visitor in which a resident of Poulton expressed concern about this issue although, unlike this resident, I don’t blame councillors (for a change) I point the finger in the direction of dog owners.

The situation got me thinking (sad I know), and I decided there seem to be different levels of dog fouling culprits.

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There are those people who don’t walk their dogs at all, they chuck them out on to the street to do their ‘business’ and then shout them back in again.

Chairman  of Morecambe Carnival  organising committee David Brayshaw.Chairman  of Morecambe Carnival  organising committee David Brayshaw.
Chairman of Morecambe Carnival organising committee David Brayshaw.

These are the sort of people who don’t care about their animal and don’t care about where they live.

Then there’s the people that do take their dogs for a walk but let them foul our pavements and never give a thought to picking up; in my experience a lot of these people are up and out early, presumably so no one sees them.

Then there’s the people that do pick up after their dog but then dump the bag rather than putting it in a bin.

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The first two groups are bad enough, but the third group defies logic.

I am hoping the new enforcement officer the Town Council will be employing from June, will make a difference to the growing problem. The officer will be able to act directly upon information from the public so regular offenders can be reported and investigated.

I urge people to take note of offenders, take photos if possible and let’s try to get some of these people prosecuted. I fully intend to go out with the officer and see, first hand, how the problem is to be addressed.

I know it’s not pleasant having to pick up after your dog, Carla knows it much more than I, however, if you want a dog then you should be willing to exercise it and be responsible enough to clean up after it.

People who aren’t prepared to do this had better watch out because there’s a new sheriff in town and he will be watching out for you.