Poo Patrol hits the streets of Peverell to tackle dog mess
Francesca Rees is using stencils to highlight areas where dog fouling is prevalent
Brightly painted street stencils are popping up across Peverell, encouraging irresponsible dog owners to clean up after their pets.
The Poo Patrol project, run by local midwife Francesca Rees, builds on the success of similar activities across the country which cut the rate of dog fouling on the streets by up to 65% in a matter of months.
Rolling out the programme in the next few weeks, Francesca is taking the opportunity of her daily exercise to use washable, temporary chalk paint to mark piles of mess, and leave a stencil on the street reminding owners of their responsibilities to clean up after their pets.
The markings stay for around a day to catch owners attention before she returns later in the day to clean them up.
Francesca, who is also a candidate in the area's upcoming local election, said:
"We know that the vast majority of street fouling comes from a very small minority of dog owners and calling attention to their behaviour with the stencils and paint seem to have a real impact on changing people’s mindsets.
"I’ve had lots of people stop when I’ve got the stencil out and ask about the project, some even picking up extra poo from other people’s dogs as they leave"
Fouling of public areas by dog faeces has serious public health impacts, not least by discouraging healthy outdoor play, research from the University of Bristol shows.
Children and other vulnerable people are especially affected and soiled areas can put them off outdoor exercise.
Eggs from the parasitic dog worm Toxocara can be released from faeces and contaminate soil. When ingested, larvae hatch and migrate around the body, causing inflammation in different organs and other health impacts such as visual impairment, sleeplessness and may be linked to epilepsy and asthma.
Around 350,000 tonnes of dog waste are deposited in Britain each year and one fifth of soil samples from public parks contain Toxocara parasite eggs.