Island blighted by dog mess
I AM writing in support of the article in 25 July's Guernsey Press regarding tougher controls on dog fouling, proposed by David Chamberlain, the States' vet. I am the mother of two young children and I place huge importance on my children enjoying the great outdoors, where they should be care-free and able to enjoy some unstructured time to run around without adult intervention. However, in reality if we are on the cliff paths, parks, beaches or even at the reservoir, I spend the whole time nagging them to watch out for dog poo.
It is the blight of Guernsey's outdoors.
What a shame.
In Saumarez Park last autumn, my son (a committed thumb sucker) was foraging for conkers when he turned to me with his entire hand engulfed in sloppy dog excrement – right up to the cuffs of his coat and jumper. This led me to a worrying Google search which revealed the negative health implications of being contaminated by dog poo, which can affect the liver and eyes.
I felt outraged that I should be having to worry about this just because some irresponsible dog owner had not picked up after their dog, in what should primarily be a child-safe and friendly area.
Why are dogs even allowed in this park?
A further Google search led me to a company called Poo Prints, which uses DNA testing in conjunction with a dog register to identify which dogs are responsible for fouling, so that the owners can be identified and fined accordingly.
In areas where this scheme has been implemented, a 95% improvement in dog fouling has been recorded ... imagine.
The scheme is not expensive to run and could easily be covered by a slightly increased dog tax, with offenders bearing the brunt of the cost of the sampling/testing within the fine.
Of course, in order for this to work, the dog register and dog tax needs to be enforced, perhaps with dogs displaying an ID tag on their collars and non-compliance fined.
This kind of scheme would be so easy to implement in a closed area like Guernsey and seems like such a no-brainer to enhance everybody's enjoyment of Guernsey's beautiful outdoors.
H. COLCLOUGH,
St Martin's.
