What to do about all the dog pooh in Dulwich?

[Zebedee Tring]

There are some serial offenders who walk their dogs along Beauval Road, often via Milo Road. On one occasion I caught a dog in the act and asked one of these geezers to pick up the carp, but he said that he hadn't brought anything with him to do this. I said that if I saw him do it again I would report it, but he just grunted and walked away. He was fairly young and about 6ft, but as I am 6ft 2in I wasn't too worried about reprisals. If I had been smaller I might have thought twice about doing this.

The 'Rambo' side of my id fantasises about rolling offenders in the brown stuff or worse. The real, respectable side of me of course would never dream of doing this!

[JS33]

Perhaps identify the offenders, publish their addresses and use those doorsteps as designated repositories for any turds people should happen to find? (The day I stepped in a fresh one just outside my own (dogless) flat, I would have gladly hurled it at the door of the responsible party, if I had any idea who it was.)

[Applespider]

The other reason for a big rise in dog poo could be all those people who got/bought puppies for Christmas, most of whom would have had their jabs and be going for walkies in Feb.

I don't have a dog but occasionally walk my sister's retriever. Part of the routine for doing so is to stick a couple of poop bags in the pocket when you pick up the lead (sis stores them in the same place) - not having anything with you to do the job is a tacit admission that you had no intention of doing so. Only other thing I can suggest is perhaps having poop bag dispensers actually next to the poop bins or perhaps ask newsagents/corner shops if they would dish them out since libraries aren't always handy or open.

[WhataPotter]

Milo road is a real problem. I have a dog and I find it absolutely disgusting that people let their dogs poo on the pavement and leave it there. Quite often there will be a massive mound of poo as I get out of my car, which when you have a toddler, pram and shopping in tow, is not particularly fun. I phoned the council to report it because it seriously has got out of control on Milo Rd, but they said there's nothing they can do unless a person is identified as allowing it to happen. There are already stencils on the pavement saying 'BAG IT AND BIN IT' and there's a poo bin on the road so it's just pure ignorance. I have no idea what the solution is but it's really gross and needs to be addressed in East Dulwich big time.

[cate]

Applespider My coat pockets are always full of the free poo bags. It is up to the owners to go to make sure they have enough. The libraries supply them in large quantities not just one or two. I also have a supply in my car. Maybe there could be more publicity about the free ones. It would be a good idea to have them at the entrances of parks. Hampstead Heath does this.

[James Barber]

With elections coming Thursday 6 May I'm pounding the East Dulwich streets more than usual.

They seemed clearer this and last weekend that before.

[Mick Mac]

try walking up friern road james on a weekday morning. Last week there seemed to be fresh loadings every morning. Probably people on the way to and from their morning dog walk on peckham rye.

Please dont try to dismiss the issue. The amount of poo is disgusting.

What about some temporary notices on friern road until this improves?

[reetpetite]

One day last week walking the length of Barry Road on the left from Peckham Rye I counted no less then 12 dog poohs .Most of these were deposited on the utilities little flip up covers on the pavements.Do you think someone has a grudge to bear? what a horrible job for the engineers and workman who have to lift these up to work on or inspect them.

[AdaDoom]

I have on several occasions noticed dogs pooing in parks etc while their owners are looking away/chatting etc. When I've pointed it out they appear very embarrassed and rush off to pick up the poo, although sometimes they can't find it. They are obviously conscientious owners but still they contribute to the problem. So I don't think its right to say its a few irresponsible owners who wilfully leave their dogs poo around, anyone can miss it and so all dog owners need to take more responsibility for this problem and be more vigilent.

[TonyQuinn]

I don't want to blow my own trumpet but this thread I started may have something to do with the improvement round my neck of the woods too. The council distributed leaflets to all households and it seems the irresponsible owners may have taken note. And I'm not even drawing a salary Mr Barber.

[agathoise]

There are well known long-term repeat offenders (we've lived around here over 12 years, and one has been letting his dogs foul anywhere and everywhere for at least that long with impunity), who repeatedly walk their dogs around Friern / Goodrich / Etherow Street / Barry Road and who are rude at best, abusive at worst when offered a bag or asked if they're going to pick up after their dog(s). I've noticed that one of the worst offenders has now taken to walking his (incontinent) dogs under cover of darkness, presumably to reduce the chances of being challenged about leaving dog poo all over the pavement. Personally I'm sick of having to clean dog poo off my children's shoes and buggy wheels. This morning there were half a dozen little dog poos in front of our gate left behind by some mutt that had obviously walked along as it squeezed them out. Nice. Try to dodge those as you leave the house in a hurry with a phalanx of children and toddlers! I think we should set up stocks on Goose Green for repeat dog poo offenders and return all the 'gifts' they've left on the pavement directly to the owners: splat!

We've owned several dogs over the years, although we don't have one at the moment, and I'm not anti-dog by any stretch of the imagination. But it would have never occurred to me not to pick up after my dog, under any circumstances and I'm really sick and tired of picking up after other people's dogs.

Agathoise

[HonaloochieB]

I think we'll all be a bit more adult about this when we stop calling it 'poo'.

Irritating mimsy-whimsy bullpoo, tee hee. Call it what it is.

It's shit. Dog shit.

Crap, if you're in polite company. But they'll know it's shit.

Really, get over yourselves, you flicking pooheads.

[HonaloochieB]

HonaloochieB Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think we'll all be a bit more adult about this

> when we stop calling it 'poo'.

> Irritating mimsy-whimsy bullpoo, tee hee. Call it

> what it is.

> It's shit. Dog shit.

> Crap, if you're in polite company. But they'll

> know it's shit.

> Really, get over yourselves, you flicking

> pooheads.

The last sentence was written after returning from the pub, so can be considered intemperate.

Therefor it may be ignored at your leisure. It really may.

The rest is sincerely held and is the truth as I see it.

And the truth as I see it is b*stard well true and no b*starding mistake.

It's of course quite possible I may have visited the pub again.

For 'may' substitute 'definitely'.

Well yeah, you would, wouldn't you.

[Mick Mac]

HonaloochieB Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think we'll all be a bit more adult about this

> when we stop calling it 'poo'.

> Irritating mimsy-whimsy bullpoo, tee hee. Call it

> what it is.

> It's shit. Dog shit.

> Crap, if you're in polite company. But they'll

> know it's shit.

> Really, get over yourselves, you flicking

> pooheads.

I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call it shit, but I would call it poo r show when a dog craps on my road.

[The Minkey]

Human poo used to appear on a regular basis at the bottom of our road, opposite the Tube, when we lived in Brixton. That was really unpleasant.

'Dog' poos deposited in odd places such as the utilities covers could well be due to foxes. They like to mark their territory in unusual ways - like in my bird bath.. Thanks, Mr Fox.

[Mscrawthew]

TonyQuinn Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I don't want to blow my own trumpet but this

> thread I started may have something to do with the

> improvement round my neck of the woods too. The

> council distributed leaflets to all households and

> it seems the irresponsible owners may have taken

> note. And I'm not even drawing a salary Mr Barber.

Only one problem there TQ, irresponsible owners will always be irresponsible. I doubt a letter from the council would have made them shake in their boots :))

[????]

funniest bit of not blowing my own trumpet i've ever read

[reetpetite]

The Minkey Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Human poo used to appear on a regular basis at the

> bottom of our road, opposite the Tube, when we

> lived in Brixton. That was really unpleasant.

>

> 'Dog' poos deposited in odd places such as the

> utilities covers could well be due to foxes. They

> like to mark their territory in unusual ways -

> like in my bird bath.. Thanks, Mr Fox.

These were most definately dog poos some large and very 'fresh' !

[Judy2]

I've been reading through the posts on this as this issue really bugs me. One of my daughter's first sentences was 'mind the dog poo' as she played the role of poo spotter from her pushchair as we took my older daughter to school (not something for the baby book!). I accompanied the same daughter and her class on a school outing to Dulwich library from Goodrich school last week and spent the whole time having to guide the children so they didn't step in any dog poo (at least 10 lots in that short journey).

The different suggestions as to what could (and apparently is)done about the problem seem to include:

- street cleaners to clean it up

- leafleting

- yellow signs on the pavements

- fines

- calling the council to report it.

I have seen little evidence of the first two but think that both could really make a difference. If the street cleaners came daily (do they?) to the streets around Goodrich school it would make an enormous difference. I've never seen any leaflets but think they could make a difference if they point out the dangers - and the consequences of school children sitting on carpets spreading very dangerous bacteria around (although I recognise it's not just an issue for children). I don't like the yellow signs on the pavements as it looks awful and really don't think it can make any difference as the dog walkers know they are not supposed to do it (whereas the leaflets might at least make them feel a bit guilty). Fines would be great but I suspect it's very difficult to catch anyone in the act (I expect a lot of the fouling happens late at night when no-one is looking). I have tried calling the council several times but they certainly didn't respond within the promised hour (I saw no evidence that it had been done at all). I also asked for some posters to be put up on the railings outside Goodrich school (supported by the deputy head) but no-one got back to me.

So if the councillors are reading then please can they reinforce the role of the street cleaners in cleaning up the dog mess and could we have some leafleting in and around the Goodrich school area?

[Old Yeller]

?BIN IT? SIGNS.

I?m a dog owner and just as irritated by abandoned dog poo on our pavements as anyone else.

I live half-way along a resdiential road with a fairly narrow pavement. It?s not a major thoroughfare and has few pedestrians. Some time ago I left my house one morning to discover a council workman stencilling a yellow ?Bin it? sign on the pavement right outside my garden gate. The sign was facing my house. I asked why he was placing it there and he replied that a ?neighbour? had requested the council to place it outside my house.

My immediate neighbours know that I never leave dog poo on the pavement or anywhere else. I can only surmise that someone from further along my road who is as fed up with dog poo as I am has come to the wrong conclusion about who the culprit might be.

Being pretty incensed by the positioning of the sign, which was clearly targeted at me personally, I called Southwark council and asked them to remove it. They did so within 24 hours.

It seems quite extraordinary that this sign was placed in such a precise position, at the sole request of one disgruntled person who had clearly got the wrong end of the stick. I felt it was tantamount to a very public accusation of breaking the law to which I?d been given no right of reply.

Perhaps there?s a common misconception that all dog owners are responsible for all dog mess?

One thing is for sure, in my opinion. Publicly targeting random dog owners in this way is unfair, ineffective, expensive and does nothing to foster amicable neighbourly relationships. Further cluttering the already overloaded visual environment with nasty expensive yellow stencilled signs will do nothing to encourage dog owners to clear up. Most, if not all, already know they should do it, and by not doing so seem to disregard even their own personal interest in our common space. This disregard for our shared environment is fairly normal human behaviour and abandoned dog poo is not the only, and probably not even the worst, example.

Unless, and until, there is a root and branch clean-up of the whole dog industry with compulsory registration, licensing and professional standards for breeders, sellers, trainers and owners I fear the various anti-social and public health issues associated with dogs are set to continue.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

"You crazy, wonderful dog!"

[Moos]

Old Yeller, perhaps the sign is aimed at the street area and not at you as a dog owner. We have a 'Bin It' sign right outside our front garden, but no dog - however, it is an area frequently decorated by other people's dogs, which is why, I'm assuming, the sign is there.

I must admit it doesn't seem to have made much difference.

[SteveT]

Some spiteful, moronic, dog owner has let their animal foul the studded paving at the crossing by the pedestrian lights.

No wonder there is sooo much criticism of dog ownership.

It seems to have increased pro rata with the popularity of the "dog whisperer",

but the spiteful moronic variety of dog owners are not dealt with on that programme,

it is assumed that every dog owner has an enriched life by keeping an animal

but little or no mention of the many deviant dog owners.

[hpsaucey]

Urgh - bringing this thread back, but to add anything to the debate as its all been said but just to get it off my chest!

Extremely pi**ed off after running the gauntlet of, not only Friern Road from Godrich Road down to the park but also across the park. Out of four trips this week we've got dog poo on our buggy wheels THREE times.

Argh, argh, argh, I love dogs but the owners letting them do this should be ashamed.

[PandG]

We have raised it with our Councillor and the council directly and we still have no signs have been put up and more dog poo dollops on Landcroft and Jennings Road - lets try and organise something - it is so bad now!(yes we get foxes but as TQ says you can tell the difference) - where's SUE when you need action ?

P and G