Bag It and Bin It! That’s the Council’s Message To Dog Owners

Published on: 10 Jul, 2013
Updated on: 12 Jul, 2013

Competition winners at St Thomas of Canterbury School give the message - 'Bag It & Bin It!'

Competition winners at St Thomas of Canterbury School, with GBC Dog Warden Peter Burmage, give the message – ‘Bag It & Bin It!’

Any bin will do – that’s the message from local school children as they help launch Guildford Borough Council’s campaign to encourage dog owners to bag and bin dog mess.

This summer the council’s dog warden and other staff will be out and about talking to dog walkers, asking them to help keep Guildford’s streets and open spaces clean.

Primary schools in the borough were asked to design a poster to promote the campaign. The winner, from St Thomas of Canterbury school, won a family ticket to Guildford Spectrum Leisure Complex and the runner up, from Lanesborough, a book token.

Run in conjunction with Dogs Trust and Keep Britain Tidy, the council’s campaign will visit Merrow Down, Stoughton Recreation Ground, Shalford and Coronation Gardens in Ash.

Dog walkers can chat to the team on the environmental education trailer, pick up information leaflets and buy a half-price Leash Pod for £10, which can be used to conveniently and safely carry dog mess. Leash Pods can also be bought from Woking Road depot – call 01483 444499 for details.

Cllr Matt Furniss, (Con, Christchurch) lead councillor for environment says: “We know from feedback that residents hate to see dog poo – and it’s a health hazard. We all like to get outside and enjoy our parks when the weather is good, so please pick up after your dog.

“Some dog owners think it’s ok to leave bags of poo on the ground or even hang it on a tree. We want people to clear it up, take it home or bin it. We need to get across the message that if it’s bagged, any bin will do.”

Residents can share their views during a special campaign on Facebook (GuildfordBC) and Twitter (@Guildford BC) on Wednesday 7 August.

Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive Phil Barton adds: “Dog fouling is the most offensive type of litter on our streets and is constantly rated as one of the most important issues by the public.

“Being a responsible dog owner means picking up after your pet. Keep Britain Tidy’s own research shows that four out of five people don’t know that they can use any general litter bin to dispose of bagged dog mess. We need to get the message across that it is every dog owners’ responsibility to pick up after their pet and put the bagged mess in a bin. After all, there is no such thing as a dog poo fairy to pick it up.”

The environmental education trailer will be at Merrow Down on Monday 5 August, Stoughton Recreation Ground on Wednesday 7 August, Coronation Gardens in Ash on Friday 9 August and Shalford Park on Thursday 22 August.

Responses to Bag It and Bin It! That’s the Council’s Message To Dog Owners

Pete Knight Reply

July 11, 2013 at 9:48 am

Cllr Matt Furniss should understand that this is a two way process. Often the dog waste bins on Merrow Downs are completely full and never emptied and people place all their bags on the bin or around the grass.

These bins need to be emptied frequently.
Bernard Parke Reply

July 11, 2013 at 4:47 pm

Why stop at dog litter?

People that allow their household garbage to spill over on to their frontages should also by fined under the current Litter Act, under which a statutory a £50 fine can be imposed.

This is a growing problem throughout the borough which is causing a serious rat and vermin problem.
Nick Ware Reply

July 13, 2013 at 6:36 pm

GBC Dog Warden Peter Burmage is probably well aware that the people who care enough to bag and bin their dog’s poo are massively outnumbered by those who don’t.

On Ripley Common, right next to the kiddies’ playground and the football pitch, there’s a handy parking place (and a red dog poo bin, plus a general litter bin). Several times recently I’ve watched in disbelief as the same woman opens the back of her car without a care in the World and lets up to six dogs leap out and run free.

The first thing they do, of course is poo, which is clearly why she takes them there. But she’s oblivious, and leaves them to it. Judging by the minefield in the surrounding 50 yards or so, it’s a daily routine. I wouldn’t mind betting you won’t find any poo bags in her pockets.
Paul Bridgland Reply

July 15, 2013 at 5:05 pm

Having trodden in something unpleasant just last week (in flip flops) – I am very much aware of the problem of ‘clearing up’ however I am inclined to agree with Peter Knight; I also walk on Merrow Downs along with many others and there are not enough bins and they are not emptied regularly – this leads to what I think is even worse than leaving your dog’s poo on the ground and that’s hanging from a tree in a bag – since the plastic is not bio-degradable, it remains there for a long, long time … at least the poo if left (which I don’t condone) will eventually be absorbed into the soil and washed away.
If local government feels strongly about the dog fouling issue then I feel they should put some effort into exercising adequate measures to collect and dispose of it. It’s not a question of whether people should take it home with them or not, the fact is that they don’t, so why don’t we make it really easy for people to do the right thing and ensure that there are ample bins on Merrow Downs (and other places of course) – for example, at least 6 not the two that are there (and always full) …with some sort of program for them to be regularly emptied.