Monday 25 November 2019

A moan.

I live on a very pleasant estate and the people I meet are all, without exception, pleasant and polite.    We are usually walking our dogs - of which there are plenty of all varieties on the estate.
Because I tend to walk at the same time each  day (early morning, lunch time and just before it gets dark) it is usually the same folk we meet and now, with my new walker J on two days - when Tess walks with other dogs - Tess is becoming much more sociable.   So our walks are much happier.

Having a dog has so many advantages, not least when one lives alone is the company they bring to one's life;  closely followed by the fact that like it or not, whatever the weather, one has to venture out.   But I do agree with Gwil - the time I don't venture out is when the paths are slippery. 

But what I always - and I mean  always - carry with me are Pooh Bags.   There are special bins which are changed regularly and almost everyone uses them to deposit the bags - otherwise they can be put into our grey rubbish bins which are collected from home.    Consequently our estate is neat, tidy and clean.

But not this morning.  My friend J, who has a dog called Sammy - Tess adores Sammy - keeps a lovely front garden, still full of flowers now when most gardens have lost their colour until the Spring.   But this morning, right at the top of her drive in the middle of the path, somebody's very large dog has deposited a very large pooh - and I mean very large - can't imagine the size of the dog - wolf sized at least I would guess.  And it has not been cleaned up - it is there - in the middle of the path for all to see or not see and tread on.   As I was walking round to quote a lovely young man who used to work with me many years ago and who was super polite (yes, honestly) I missed stepping on to it by a 'gnat's dick' (sorry - didn't mean to offend!)   Yes, I could have bent down and collected it in one of my pooh bags but I had already used one and expected Tess to need the other before we got home (she did).   So I left it there - not public spirited I know.   But why are people so thoughtless?

On the whole we don't get much in the way of take away cartons, tins or bottles - but this, which is so much worse and really a danger to health - and on the footpath too.   I just wish I had seen it happen and could have taken a photograph at the time - it is an offence and quite rightly so.
 

23 comments:

jinxxxygirl said...

Listen to this Pat! The apartment complex where my daughter lives takes a DNA sample from each dog that lives there and when they find poo not picked up they then know who the culprit is if it is someone who lives there!!! I know i haven't been posting much Pat but all is fine..... since working again i haven't found the time or energy to do the things i used to do when i didn't work. But i'm so glad you still visit the blog as i do put up a post about once a month.. Hugs! deb

JanF said...

What we sometimes find here, which is really strange, is that dog owners pick up the poop, put it in the bag and then leave the bag. Some of them pick it up later if their walk is coming back the same way, but a surprising number just leave it. Many times they are at the edge of the street and cars drive over the bags leaving a truly awful mess. It's disgusting.

Tracy said...

There is a path bordered by thorn bushes at the entrance of our village recreation ground. The ground underneath the bushes is absolutely covered with poo bags. The really annoying thing is that there is a bin for dog waste, but it seems that one or perhaps several dog-walkers can't be bothered to walk to it. And don't get me started on those lovely individuals who throw the bags into trees or into fields of crops! Yuck!

liparifam said...

So annoying! Any possibility it was actually left by a wild animal? I will also admit to being guilty of having ventured out on a walk and having forgotten to take bags. If it's not too far to go back, I try to do so later to pick it up...

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Some idiot in this village goes to the trouble of picking it up in a bag, tying it neatly, then dropping it over the fence into somebody's garden. The person who owns the garden recently put up a sign helpfully pointing out that there's a dog-poo bin just down the road. Not sure if this has solved the problem though.

Gwil said...

I do notice that the amount of dog shit (let’s call a spade a spade) does increase with the shorter hours of daylight. Same dogs, same owners, same streets . . . but no witnesses. Dog runs into the darkness and comes back five minutes later all smiles and tail wagging. But he knows what he’s been up. The owner on the next corner whistles a happy tune and all is well with the world.

Debbie said...

Earlier this year I watched a woman bend down after her dog had done the deed and carefully cover the pile with fallen leaves. Honestly it would have taken less effort to put it in a bag!

Midmarsh John said...

The lane where I live has a red poo bin at each end. On more than a few occasions I have seen uncollected dog poo less than a yard from the bins. There are no footpaths but grass verges which each property owner cuts regularly. I really object having to clear up after antisocial dog owners so their dog's mess doesn't end up in my mower.

busybusybeejay said...

Perhaps it was a fox that did it.

NellieGrace said...

Fox poo can be identified at about 100 yards by the absolutely awful smell and the number of dogs who roll in it!
After dark dog walkers, and those who just look the other way are mainly men. Mothers and grandmothers bag and bin because they get to clean children’s shoes.
Everyone cleaned up the poop mountain’s left by the old lady’s large Labrador guide dog on its daily run in the park.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Debs - brilliant idea - a bit too complicated here though I think - such a small town and so very many dogs. Gwil's suggestion that it is done after dark is quite probably right too.

Tom Stephenson said...

I would rather you took a photo of a gnat's dick, Weave, but I am guessing your macro isn't up to it.

pam nash said...

I live in a small rural community here. When I used to walk my dogs, I carried bags and cleaned up anything they deposited. Unfortunately, it seems no one else in this town does the same thing. My puppies are gone now and I find droppings from large dogs all over the front yard too often. People are just rude.

Heather said...

Those who do not clean up after their dogs should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. There is no excuse for not doing so especially as there are usually plenty of bins provided and I used to take a torch with me so as not to get caught out after dark.
Before I moved into a flat and still had a dog, dog owners would pass each other brandishing their poo bags as a greeting! We said they were THE vital accessory for dog owners.

Red said...

It only takes one person to mess things up for everybody.

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

My sister thinks stepdad should get a dog to walk now mum is gone bless her

Joanne Noragon said...

I like to think karma will get even with them.

At Home In New Zealand said...

I saw a dog once who had been trained to run into the water at the beach to do its doo-doos. All so its (male) owner didn't have to pick it up. It still fouled the beach as it washed onshore soon afterwards. So not nice.

Bea said...

I appreciate your colorful language here, Weaver! I once saw a large pooh (like the one you've described) on a well-worn walk path in my area. No one claimed it, so there it sat. Hopefully, no one steps in the deposit you saw and no one stepped in the one I saw!

Cro Magnon said...

Not a problem for us as we live right out in the countryside, but I totally agree with you about Dog mess. In Brighton there were small signs on all the lamp posts saying '£500 fine for Dog fouling'. I wrote to the council to ask how much money had been collected in fines, and it caused something of a panic (too long winded to explain). I never did get an answer, but I expect it would have been NOTHING.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Nor my eyesight Tom! Thanks everyone - seems it is a problem for us all.

wherethejourneytakesme said...

Just one week from my grandson's christening my son-in-law stepped unknowingly in some dog pooh on his way home from work on a dark night. They always take their shoes off at the door thank goodness but this pile of pooh must have been quite large and sloppy and it had got onto the bottom of his jeans. He had been in and out of every room in their house before they noticed the smell. They have had to have all their new carpets cleaned this week to get rid of it as little Freddie my grandson is now crawling and the pooh had spread everywhere - just when they had little time to spare.
We also have an elderly man who walks his dog everyday down our road and waits for it to do a pooh on our flower beds or lawn before moving on - he always carries pooh bags but they are just for show - he never uses them. I have politely asked him not to let the dog foul on our garden as the grandchildren play there and I have to weed in the borders but it just seems to makes him defiantly worse.
Our village recently conducted a survey of residents asking what improvements the parish council could make etc. Top of the list was the dog fouling!

wherethejourneytakesme said...

Whoops - meant poo of course - been reading too many Pooh bear stories to the grandchildren over the weekend!