Dog poo fouled footpaths

[Cyberman]

I too find inconsiderate dog owners a real problem in Marple. Recently someone left a poo-filled bag on the pavement near our house -I found it when I trod on it in the dark. Luckily it didn't burst. I've come across huge piles of the stuff right in the middle of the precinct, also on the paths in the park. I saw a dog doing its business on the grass in the park, while its owner turned a blind eye and walked off. I challenged the owner to pick it up and his response was "who are you .. the f*****g police". There is a real attitude problem with a significant number of dog owners. I would love to a) ban dogs from the park and b) introduce an expensive licence to put people off owning the things.

[EmmyJane Designs]

This was highlighted recently when we had snow. The little brown parcels really showed up then.

When we moved here several years ago, I wrote to our local Councillor. Her reply was interesting, she said it's the most complained thing about Marple.

The other thing that really, really annoys me is the habit of dog owners actually taking the time to pick up theirs dog's mess and then flinging the bag into trees, over peoples fences, into hedges, into the canal.  Oooh I can feel my blood pressure rising now.

I too have had an  unfortunate  instance where my young nephew was  playing out in our local park, had it all over his shoes, luckily I was close and smelt in just in time.  Those shoes went in the bin and he was carried home.

[admin]

Since I retired and started to walk our grandchildren to and from school most days I've been astounded at the amount of dog mess on pavements and paths around here. You can barely look up for fear of treading in it and I'm always shouting at the kids to mind that mess. It is really disgusting and has turned me against keeping dogs as pets.

We also have a problem immediately outside our house, which appears to be a regular toilet spot for at least one inconsiderate owner who doesn't even clean up when it is left immediately in front of our path to the front door. I've adjusted our cameras and I'm looking forward to identifying the culprit(s).

I also have an issue with this in Memorial Park. As most will know I'm involved with the Friends group and we regularly encounter dog mess left in and around the flowerbeds when we are tending them, and all over the park too. We had a most unpleasant experience when our 3 year old granddaughter was playing near the tree sculpture in the park - a place where children will most obviously play - and she trod in some left there and played on for several minutes before we realised. It was all over her shoes and clothes and hands - disgusting and dangerous too.

I've made enquiries with the council about the effectiveness of the dog warden's visits to the park and was amazed to learn that there has NEVER been a single fine issued EVER! It's beyond me how that can be the case and believe that they should make a concerted effort to catch some offenders.

I've discussed the highlighting of dog mess in the park by using coloured spray with the council. It is seems to be something that has been successfully done in other authority areas to raise awareness and reduce offending but SMBC are against it. I haven't given up on this idea yet but at the moment we are putting so much effort into highlighting ASB in the park to the authorities that we're not ready to start another fight yet. But the time will come.

[Rachael]

It's disgusting.  I am a dog owner, and would not dream of not clearing up after my dog .  The Middlewood way is just vile, people use it as a dog toilet, and its not on    Im with the same view as you, these dogs are not walking by themselves, so it is, irresponsible dog owners .   I have actually knocked on a door to ask for a carrier bag, nappy bag etc  when I got caught short ( my bags had fallen out of my pockets ) , the owner did not mind one bit .  There is no excuse .

[Snowball]

I moved to Marple last year and absolutely love living here apart from one thing......

..... I have never seen footpaths so badly covered in dog poo. The pavement on Stockport Road running from Cross Lane up to the Market Street is terrible. I've never seen any dogs roaming free so can only assume it is irresponsible owners not clearing up after their dogs.

Does Marple have any enforcement  for this issue, if not perhaps it's time they did.

First post on the forum, and sorry it's a whinge, but having recently got dog poo all over the wheels of a baby buggy I needed to vent a little.