National figures from Keep Britain Tidy estimate that 100 tonnes of uncollected dog waste are left across the UK each day. Kristin Hawthorne reports.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Dog waste. Something we've all stepped in at least once.
00:04But now, campaigners say it's time to stamp out the problem for good.
00:08In Kent alone, nearly 4.4 tonnes of dog mess is left behind every single day.
00:14That's the weight of two cars.
00:17Leonie Baker from Keep Britain Tidy sees the issue first hand.
00:21She says she picks up around 50 discarded bags of waste every week.
00:26Over the past eight years, we've probably cleared in the region of 20,000 sacks of rubbish.
00:32They're just discarded everywhere and they're causing great harm to the wildlife.
00:38Foxes and badgers might pick these bags up and try and consume the contents
00:43and generally end up consuming the bag as well.
00:46The compostable dog poo bags, actually people throw those away
00:52thinking that they will compost naturally and they don't.
00:55It's a real problem.
00:57One idea she's put forward is dog DNA testing,
01:01which could trace waste back to the owner and lead to hefty fines.
01:05It has been trialled in a couple of places in the UK
01:10and they said they had a reduction of 50% in dog fouling.
01:16I think the problem is that you cannot enforce people
01:21to allow DNA swabs to be taken of their dogs without some kind of government enforcement.
01:29I've been in Riverside Country Park for about an hour now
01:32and I've already seen a lot of waste both on the ground and in the hedges.
01:36Here you can already see that there's a bag here,
01:38there's one just thrown over the hedge there,
01:40and there's a third one behind me.
01:42But what do residents think about this and what do they think should be done?
01:46I think we need to encourage people just to find different ways
01:49but the plastic bags are an issue and people hanging them on.
01:53I see it out where I live.
01:55It's just pure laziness.
01:56What's the point in putting it in a dog bag and then slinging it up a tree
02:01for birds and wildlife? There's no point is there?
02:04And if kids fall over, they get it in a riot, there's a disease isn't it?
02:08On the way here I saw at least three poo bags hung up to be honest
02:11and we've not walked very far.
02:12And it just looks horrible.
02:14People who aren't dog walkers don't want to see that.
02:16People who are dog walkers don't want to see that.
02:18Even being in a chair you find a way if they've gone a bit out of the way,
02:22usually someone else is around, they'll help.
02:25So I think if I don't find it that much of an issue to do it,
02:28I don't see why others can't do the same.
02:31I think it's silly.
02:32Why do they put it in a poo bag and then hang it on a bush and things like that?
02:37That's shocking.
02:38I pick them up myself sometimes and carry them to the bins.
02:42Yeah, no, that's shocking, no.
02:44People should be fined.
02:45And DNA testing, yeah, definitely.
02:48So some blame lack of funds while others say it's just laziness.
02:52Councils can fine owners up to £1,000 but enforcement remains a challenge.
02:57On my short visit to this park I didn't see any warning signs for fines,
03:01something which people think would make a considerable difference.
03:04So why should you care? Because this problem affects everyone.
03:08Kristen Hawthorne for KMTV.