Fulford is joining the battle against dog poo in a six-month campaign to target five fouling hotspots in the parish.
Fulford parish, which includes Fulford, Meir Heath, Rough Close and Blythe Bridge wards, is fighting back against irresponsible owners who don’t clean up after their pets in a new six-month campaign of its own.
The scheme comes after the villages of Gnosall and Weston joined with Stafford Borough Council to launch their own campaigns. In Gnosall dog fouling has reduced by over 80 per cent since a campaign to get pet owners to clean up their act was launched in April. Meanwhile, Weston saw a 95% reduction in incidents of dog owners not cleaning up following its own campaign.
From this month, Fulford Parish Council is joining forces with the Borough Council to target five dog fouling hot spots. Signs will be put up, flyers distributed and the number of dog fouling incidents counted each month.
Other initiatives include distributing free dog poo bags from outlets.
Meanwhile, a majority of parishioners who took part in a survey on the issue of dog fouling agreed it was a problem that needed tackling.
[box type=”shadow” ]Martin Oxby, from the Parish Council, who is helping lead the campaign, said: “We live in a ‘Best Kept Village’ in a beautiful part of the world and are determined to keep it that way. The vast majority of residents in Fulford are really responsible and would never leave their pet’s mess for other people to walk in or, worse still, for it to come into contact with a child. Unfortunately, there is an inconsiderate minority and it is those people that this campaign is aimed at.”[/box]
Fellow parish councillor Tony Holmes, who is also involved in the campaign, added: “As well as being unsightly, dog fouling can lead to Toxocariasis, which causes serious illness and even blindness. This issue must be tackled.”
The Borough Council has issued a number of fines throughout Stafford and surrounding towns and villages, and has taken dog owners to court as part of a long running zero-tolerance campaign against people not cleaning up after their pets.
Councillor Frank Finlay, Cabinet Member for Environment and Health at Stafford Borough Council, said: “It’s fantastic to see another community doing its bit to try and rid itself of this disgusting problem. There’s no doubt that campaigns like these do have an impact, with Weston and Gnosall proving that point in the borough. We have seen the damage this problem can cause to young children and how anyone can ignore that is beyond me. All dog owners have to do is bag it, pick it up and put it in a bin – and that can be any public rubbish bin.”
[box type=”info” align=”aligncenter” ]You can email dogs@staffordbc.gov.uk to give information in confidence about people who do not clean up after their dogs or call 01785 619402. Further details can be found at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/dogs [/box]
