Schoolchildren tackle park dog fouling

SCHOOLCHILDREN in Swansea are leading a campaign in the city’s parks, calling on dog owners to clean up after their pets.

The clean-up call to dog owners is to ensure parks and other play areas in Swansea are dog poo free.

Swansea Council has been urging pet owners to be more responsible as part of its ‘Tidy Swansea’ litter campaign or face getting a fine from litter enforcement officers who continue to patrol public areas including beaches and parks.

Children from Brynmill and Glais Primary Schools have now got in on the act and have designed their own banners which will be put up at more than 20 parks around Swansea.

The banners were developed after the Council organised a competition with local schools to come up with slogans to get the public doing the right thing.

Five banners have been chosen and were designed by Cora Ellacot, from Brynmill School, and Amy-Leigh Dickerson, Lewis Jones, Holly Salmon, Luke Jones and Tomos Butterworth, all from Glais Primary School.

Marilyn Jones, mother of Cora Ellacot, said: “We live close to Brynmill Park and quite often we encounter dog mess and have to step over it to avoid it. We do see quite a lot of dog owners doing the right thing and picking up after their pets but there are obviously some who don’t.

“I worry about the health risks linked to dog mess and my daughter also understands the dangers it poses. We’re delighted that Cora is playing her part in passing on the message to dog owners to act responsibly in public places, especially where lots of children are playing.”

Jacki Rees Thomas, Play Development Officer at Swansea Council, said: “Our parks should be places where children can play without the fear of going home with dog mess on their shoes or clothes.

“The children have designed some really colourful banners which hopefully get the message across to pet owners to keep parks free of dog mess.”

Cllr Mark Child, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Healthy City, said: “This is something we are taking very seriously throughout the city. We want our parks, beaches and all our communities to be free of dog mess.

“The majority of dog owners in Swansea are responsible and clean up after their dog. This latest campaign scheme will encourage the minority that don’t to do the right thing or face the consequences.”

The council has recently taken action against a dog owner who allowed their pet to foul on the beach in Swansea Bay. The case resulted in the dog owner receiving a fine at Swansea Magistrates.

Cllr Child added: “There are more than 500 dog poo bins in the city. There’s really no excuse for pet owners to let their dogs do their business and not clean it up. And if the bins are full, dog owners should bag it up and take it home.”

An external litter enforcement team has  also been working with the council to issue £75 fixed penalty notices to anyone caught littering. This includes dog fouling.