A couple of residents have emailed us because they want to discuss some doggy issues. So here’s what they say -please feel to leave some comments:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Now spring is clearly here and the grass has been cut in Sweyne Park, we have been walking for longer and can’t help but notice the amount of uncollected dog mess. Look forward to hearing from you,. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A couple of residents have emailed us because they want to discuss some doggy issues. So here’s what they say -please feel to leave some comments: Now spring is clearly here and the grass has been cut in Sweyne Park, we have been walking for longer and can’t help but notice the amount of uncollected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nWe’ve had a dog for two years and always pick up, and know that the majority of people using the park do so too.
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\nWe wondered what might be done about the issue and have the following suggestions:
\n1. Money permitting, have a week-long blitz where council officers, helpers and volunteers greet dog owners, ask whether they have bags and collect opinions about the issue whilst ensuring people are clear that it is an offence to leave it behind (we would be happy to be part of this)
\n2. Provide cheap poo bags for use by people – this would require a small investment of a weather-proof receptacle by the council, but could be stocked cheaply by local dog owners (a bag of economy sacks from Asda\/Tesco is around 30p and unlikely to be nicked by teenagers as the connotations of nicking a poo bag would not be cool!) We saw this system used in Cantabria in Spain (the local authority provided the bags too) and it worked well – no mess anywhere in that town as compared to others nearby. Even if this started with one receptacle near the car park, it would be a start
\n3. Increase the number of poo bins in and around the park – with the best will in the world some people don’t want to carry it once they’ve picked up, and there are relatively few bins, all near the edges of the park. Perhaps a couple near the top might help, perhaps near the benches?
\n4. A poster campaign using the existing boards on the entrances to the park showing why it is so important to pick up e.g. illness transmitted to kids to remind dog owners that there might be a consequence to them being too lazy\/ill equipped to pick up
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\nWe hope this starts a discussion and through our chats with fellow dog walkers, we know there would be plenty of support for such campaigns\/action. We really don’t want to get to a stage where dogs are banned from running around such a fabulous resource because of the thoughtless actions of a minority.<\/p>\n