I feel the whole question of dogs fouling the countryside is a very tricky and emotive subject immediately divided into 2 groups of, dog owners v. non-dog owners but then the first group sub-divides into those who do pick up and those who don’t…….
Picking up your dog’s poo is a very unpleasant pastime and nowadays, even if in the middle of the countryside i.e. a field, you are guilted into feeling that you must pick it up. I agree that on public footpaths it should be so but then what……you probably have to walk a considerable distance before you can dispose of the offending bag and so it has become increasingly evident that many people toss the bag into the hedge/trees which then means they remain there forever so is that more pleasant?? Then there are those who do not have a correct bag to pick up with i.e. one that de-composes quickly, so they pick up with a nappy sack or even worse a supermarket plastic bag. Now is this acceptable as how long do these bags take to de-compose when the council empty dog poo bins and presumably take to a suitable disposal site? Does anyone know?
In Cornwall I live on a public footpath which leads down to the pontoon where many yachties moor and come ashore bringing their dogs who are, naturally, bursting. Then there are the villagers who bring their dogs to do ‘their business’ first thing in the morning and last thing at night assuming that no-one can see them! HoweverI can see the path clearly from my bedroom window and recently I have become a ‘pooper snooper’ and have been noting those who don’t pick up….. the yachties who, presumably, rarely remember to bring bags ashore and anyway if they did they would not know where the nearest bin is (right at the far end of the village as everyone objected when the council placed it anywhere near their house!!). Then there are the teenagers who have been sent to walk the dog i.e. been dragged away from their laptop/mobile phone/tv and so are slightly moody and very reluctant to even be outside and certainly would not be seen dead carrying a poo bag back through the village in case they meet someone they know. All in all it can make our path extremely treacherous particularly late at night, returning from dinner, when you have forgotten to take a torch. My children think I am embarassing when I lean out of my bedroom window and remind dog owners of their duty…….but seriously wouldn’t it be better if dog owners carried a trowel and just picked up their dog poo and chucked it somewhere out of the way of human feet where it can de-compose naturally which is what happened quite successfully long before poo bags were invented and we became so pc!
P.S. I am a dog owner and I do pick up!