A dog mess awareness campaign is being launched this month by Frome Town Council, reminding and encouraging Frome’s dog owners to clean up after their dogs.
The issue of dog mess in Frome is often raised by residents on local forums and social media and was also raised by a resident, Julian Quayle, at the full town council meeting in June. Julian volunteers with the council’s ranger team and has seen first hand the extent of the problem in Frome’s parks and green spaces.
“I volunteer regularly with the Frome Town Council rangers and I regret to say that whenever I’m helping out in Victoria Park, I’m always coming across dog mess on the lawns, which is a health hazard,” explained Julian. “I also walk about the town centre and find quite a bit of dog mess there. I’d like to see the council run an assertive campaign.”
The council campaign will see a series of chalk stencils appear on footpaths in public areas, along with poo bag dispensers near bins in open spaces.
Cllr Anita Collier said, “We love our dogs in Frome but dog poo in our public spaces is not acceptable, and it causes problems for everyone. We hope this new campaign will make a difference here in Frome. From the beginning of August, you’ll see stencils on walkways in parks and around town, a visual reminder to people that they have a responsibility to clean up after their dogs.
“We’ll also install poo bag points in lots of the places where the problem is happening: we know even the most responsible dog owners occasionally slip up and we want to help solve the problem, not just point it out. We want to make it easy to act and hard to ignore. It isn’t only unsightly and unhygienic; it also poses a genuine risk to health. Please get involved, whether you’re a dog owner yourself or you have a friend or family member who is. Let’s work towards a cleaner and more pleasant Frome for everyone.”
Frome Town Council says that Keep Britain Tidy estimates that the UK’s 8million pet dogs produce more than 1,000 tonnes of mess every day.
It also says that despite the fact that not clearing up after a dog is illegal and could attract a fixed penalty notice of £100, some dog owners across the UK do not do so. In rare cases, accidental contact with dog mess can have serious health consequences, such as blindness or seizures.
Frome Town Council’s dog poo campaign launches in August. Anyone with an interest is welcome to email info@frometowncouncil.co.uk with feedback and suggestions for locations for signage, stencils and poo bags.
