Tameside, Greater Manchester, Takes Action!

Dogs in many Tameside parks must now stay on short leads.

Tameside council has made it unlawful to use extending dog leads.

Dog owners are facing £1,000 fines if they take their pets to some Greater Manchester parks on a long lead. The ban on leads longer than 2m (6ft 5ins) applies to dozens of parks and open spaces in Tameside. Council bosses have argued that owners are more likely to clean up after their pets if they are on a short lead.
Their commitment to tackling this really serious crime is commendable. This ticket happy council proudly boasts that last year it issued 66 fixed penalty notices for dog fouling, more than double the amount (29) in 2008. Frankly, this will really teach dog owners a lesson.
What I cannot understand is the exact logical thread, which suggests that dog fouling is less likely to take place when dogs are on a shorter lead. Is that perhaps owners will not be able to take the stench from close up? Is that owners will carry corks to insert into their dogs until they get home or is it that somebody has made a mindless decision after a heavy session down the local? Who knows? All I know is that the fight is still on and that serious crime remains the focus.
Read the article here.

The Bomb Squad fires the poop.

Melinda Hofmann made the news this week in a very messy way. She owns The Bomb Squad, a small dog poop collecting company from Oregon, USA.
For the last 10 years people have paid Melinda to clean up after their dogs - talk about a crappy job!

But it all got too much for poor Melinda when one of her customers refused to pay her bill of $150 - "I just decided to give her poop back”, said Melinda, "Once I started doing it, I kind of lost all rational thought and I just got into this mode of emptying bags ... and as I was flinging the poo all over her yard - it felt really good and I just kept doing it."

By the time police arrived, Melinda had dumped 30 gallons of dog faeces on the woman's yard. “Very messy,” observed police Sgt. Dan Ritchie. Hoffman was led away in handcuffs, unrepentant.

I don't know about you, but I think this story stinks :-)

Hitler and the turd.

Proof that even Hitler hated dog fouling ...

If Barry Can Do It, So Can You!

Mr Bassnett said he had picked up about a tonne of dog mess in a year

Barry Bassnett is disabled but he cares. He has made Braunten Burrows in Devon his own. Since the car park on these beautiful sand dunes was closed and the dog waste bins removed, the area has been awash.

Barry, 64, travels around on his disability scooter and clears up the mess. Good for him!

In a statement, North Devon District Council said it had no plans to install dog litter bins, but it reminded dog owners they could face fines and possible court action for allowing pets to foul the area. A council spokeswoman said there are 100 dog bins across north Devon and due to current budgetary constraints it could not provide any more.

This is a clear indication of the ridiculous choices made by those in authority. They are quite happy to spend our taxes on schools, hospitals and helping elderly people but hardly a penny goes on dog waste bins.

Is this really why Britain fought two world wars?
Full article here.

How very continental.

Brilliant little story in the West Wickham Residents Association Summer 2010 Newsletter entitled, quite simply, "Dog Litter Bins".

It starts off sensibly enough with a heartfelt plea from a local resident concerned about "the copious amount of dog litter on the pavements of West Wickham", requesting the council install more dog litter bins.

I love the word "copious". It really conjures up an image of streets covered in a plentiful, abundant, profuse, large in quantity and never ending amounts of dog faeces. 

Very soon the local ward councillor - Nicholas Bennett - gives his opinion and suggests that "continental style" dog areas are adopted by the council.

By adding the word "continental" to his description he has left us with a romantic, cosmopolitan, European Café image of his proposed new look dog areas.
DO NOT BE FOOLED READERS.

Having just come back from France and seen their "continental" dog areas, there is nothing nice about them.

They are basically large public cat litters but for dogs (if that makes sense). You take your dog to the sandpit and wait until it does its business. You don't need to pick up. The one I photographed below, was right outside someones front door. The smell was terrible, not to mention the flies.

Does it still look continental Mr Bennett?

The article then finishes with a quote from an anonymous resident:

"I am incensed that dog owners actually think it is OK to leave their dog's mess lying around ... I'm sure they wouldn't be happy if I let my toddler drop his trousers and do his business outside their house with no intention of clearing it up."

If we had continental style toddler areas then maybe we could let them do this and everyone would be happy.