Almost 60% of Glaswegians notice rise in dog fouling during lockdown
Almost 60% of people in Glasgow have found dog fouling to be a bigger issue in their area during the lockdown period.
The results come from a survey we conducted over on our Twitter last week.
It comes as environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful calls for dog owners to change their behaviour in response to a reported increase in bagged dog fouling during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Keep Scotland Beautiful also carried out research which showed that from more than 100 volunteers across Scotland surveying 100 meters, there were an average of 12 fouling incidents per 100 meters and 1.5x more bagged and littered waste than those unbagged.
Heather McLaughlin, campaigns officer for the charity, said:
"We can't really pinpoint why this is the case. For me personally, surely the yuck factor is when you actually have to pick up the poo rather than when you have to bin it - you're taking one step but you're not completing the act.
"We have people saying to us 'Oh the bin was too full, I couldn't find a bin so I left it' - and that isn't really an excuse. Your waste it your responsibility."
Paul Wallace, Campaign and Social Innovation Manager at Keep Scotland Beautiful said: "Our snapshot survey highlights the increasing number of bagged poos littered across Scotland. So, we are urging those who start to do the right thing, and pick up after their dogs, not to do ‘half the jobbie’. If you make the effort to take a bag and pick up the poo, you need to take the next step and bin it or take it home and bin it there.
"Leaving your dog’s poo on the ground is illegal, but littering a bagged poo is also illegal! We’re pleading with dog owners to stop being so selfish.
"We have all had more time to spend in our local communities over the last couple of months – and that has increased people’s awareness of this illegal, unsightly and dangerous habit."
With local authorities having to temporarily reduce or suspend some services, due to the Covid-19 crisis, to prioritise essential services to protect public health, bagging and binning, or taking your dog waste home at this time is vitally important.
Alex Jackson, Head of Campaigns at Dogs Trust, said: "It’s so important that the small minority of dog owners that don’t pick up after their dog do so. For dog owners who are unaware, they should know that they can deposit poo bags in any public bin, and not only those designated for dog poo. We’d like to see local authorities moving dog owners towards the right course of action by adding more signs which explain what they should do, and installing more bins in dog fouling hotspots."
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