Pink poo to leave dog foulers red faced

IT IS the scourge of communities across Scotland and beyond, and no council has escaped censure for failing to clean up its act.

Now one local authority has unveiled a novel solution to the problem of dog dirt – spraying it bright pink in a bid to shame guilty owners.

Shetland Islands Council is recruiting an army of volunteer "poo spotters" to scour the islands for signs of fouling. To highlight where owners have failed to clear up after pets, they will be armed with canisters of bright pink dye, which they will spray on the unwelcome deposits the dogs leave behind.

On-the-spot fixed penalty notices of 50 have already been used by the council to penalise owners who flout the law. And last year the authority organised a prize draw to reward owners who clean up after their pets.

But council officials claim the new pink poo blitz will mark the scale of problem still being caused by a minority of irresponsible owners in a way that persistent lawbreakers will find impossible to ignore.

The scheme, aimed at shaming irresponsible owners into changing their ways, has been devised by Maggie Dunne, the council's environmental health manager.

She explained: "Shetland is very clean and our streets are generally kept clean. But the issue that we get most complaints about is dog fouling, because it is so unpleasant."

"Last year we ran a proactive reward scheme for people who clean up after their dogs. We handed out little stickers to people saying well done for cleaning up and gave them the chance to enter into a draw where compost bins, recycling bins and environmentally friendly bags were the prizes.

"But this year we thought we would try something different and make it interesting and relevant to people, because I think that telling the same story over and over again probably doesn't have the same effect."

"I think that highlighting the problem with pink dye will raise the profile of dog fouling with other dog walkers and perhaps help apply peer pressure to get those last few dog owners to fall in line.

"Hopefully they will feel embarrassed when they see what is being left behind. I picked pink because it would stand out, and it will make it a bit more fun. And she stressed:

"We are not going to leave the pink poo in place and will be working with our colleagues in cleansing to ensure it is cleaned up."

Shetland is not the first local authority to tackle dog fouling in this fashion. In Cheltenham, dog wardens have been armed with cans of dye. On initial discovery of dog mess, they spray a circle around it. If it is still there a week later, a yellow circle is added and, after another week, a white one.

Only after it has been left for two weeks is it cleaned away.

Cheltenham Borough Council claims the amount of dog mess left on the streets has declined.

In the mid-1990s Edinburgh Council spent 4,000 on hiring a "dog-mess mobile", which patrolled the streets scooping up any deposits it found.

Ryan O'Mara, editor-in-chief of dog owners' magazine K9 and chair of the Coalition for Improved Dog Ownership Standards, said: "While it is well-intentioned, this type of scheme will not deter the sort of irresponsible people who allow their dogs to foul this way.

"The only way to stop this problem is to say, 'If you are caught, it will cost you 2,500'."

Mr O'Mara added that a combination of stiff financial penalties and reminding dog owners of their legal responsibilities would be more effective than "gimmicks".