Ah, the perennial dirty business of a winter's accumulation of dog
doo. It is a smelly topic and one,
which could be avoided if dog owners would just pick up after their dogs or
walk them in the forest in a less travelled area. Recently The Playpen in Cranbrook generously offered to supply
doggy bags to a couple of locations in or close to town, in popular dog walking
areas. This will be a great service for
those who have forgotten to bring their baggies with them but then along with
pick-up duty comes the problem of what to do with the bag. Disposal bins would be the next good
addition to areas where dogs are walked.
Unfortunately it is not unusual to see baggies carefully placed behind
bushes or hanging from a tree waiting to be collected at a later date
maybe? This shameful practise makes
matters worse because the contents cannot be absorbed back into the ground and
the baggy is noxious plastic.
Currently one popular entrance to the Community Forest is very
unpleasant and complaints have been received.
So for all those dog owners who walk in the Community Forest, how about
a clean up day or a whip around for a disposal unit? It would be a lot cheaper than what has been proposed in this
area of the UK!
This article came from the Daily Telegraph
March 17 2012
Dog mess could be subjected to DNA testing under plans being considered by a council
Officials in Lancashire are in discussions with a foresnsic vet over plans to analyse dog dirt found on pavements and in parks. The scheme has been used effectively in Europe and in the United States and is seen as an option to help tackling the growing problem of dog fouling.
Last year, Hyndburn borough
council voted to call on the Government to increase the maximum fixed penalty
notices for dog fouling from £75 to £1,000.
Ken Moss, a councillor who
proposed the scheme, said talks about DNA testing are at an “early stage”.
If it goes
ahead, it would be one of the first schemes of its kind in the country.
Mr Moss, who is chairman of the
council’s overview and scrutiny committee, said: “I am led to believe there are
only two of these vets in Britain and they work by analysing the samples and
identifying the dog by DNA. It’s something that has been used in tourism hot
spots on the Continent and is something they are looking to get a foot hold of
here in England.
He added that he did not know
what the project would cost. “It would probably rely on some database,” he
said. “It might be that it’s unrealistic and cost too much or rely too much on
voluntary information from the public.”
Similar schemes in the US and
Germany have relied on a DNA database with either fur or saliva samples being
taken from dogs in a local area. Any dog faeces found in public places are then
tested and checked against the DNA database to identify the offenders.
Harvey Locke, the former
president of the British Veterinary Association and a practising vet, said
current legislation would make it difficult to introduce a dog DNA database.
He said: “It is possible to
identify dogs from a faeces sample, but you need to have a database with all
the dogs in the area to identify a particular dog.”
He added that there were legal
issues to be taken into account. “If somebody has seen a dog fouling and wants
to report a particular dog, you would need to take a sample and that would
require the owner’s consent,” said Mr Locke. “I am not aware of any legal
framework that would allow this to happen.”
The proposals are the latest in
a series of measures being taken by the council to help tackle the amount of
dog mess in the streets. Police community support officers are being urged to
issue dog fouling fines and extra dog warden patrols have been arranged.
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