Clean up your act and Beveridge Park

Bill Allen, who owns The Dog Shop in St Clair Street, says he was appalled by the amount of dog mess he saw in the park when walking his dogs with his young son.

He says he’s “sick to death” of responsible dog owners being tarred with the same brush as those who don’t pick up.

“With the better weather there’s a lot more kids here playing on the rugby and football pitches,” he said, “So I bring my son down here because in the summertime especially it’s great place to bring your kids.

“We came down recently and we were kicking a ball about and the place was an absolute state with dog mess everywhere.

“In the half hour that we were here we witnessed two owners letting their dogs mess and just kept on walking.”

Bill says that owning a dog means you should be responsible for clearing up after it.

“A lot of the problem seems to be that if a dog is walking along behind you, you can’t see what it is doing so you can’t pick it up.

“What we need is a lot more awareness which will help lower the percentage of owners who are just letting their dogs foul up the parks, sometimes ignorantly.

“If we can just get more people thinking about it, so when their dog does go they’ll think to pick it up.

“It’s not a major difficulty to pick up the poo. “

Mark McCall, service manager (Safer Communities), at Fife Council said its aim is not only to catch owners who do not clean up after their dogs, but also to provide a visible presence to deter the irresponsible behaviour.

“We undertake high visibility foot patrols in a variety of areas known for high levels of dog fouling and utilise our CCTV van to undertake surveillance in an attempt to catch perpetrators and issue fixed penalty notices,” he said.

“Another part of our challenge is to educate people so that they understand that this is not acceptable behaviour.

“Educational inputs are given to schools and community groups to highlight the financial penalty and also the public health risks associated with dog fouling.”

“You can report any instances of dog fouling to the council by calling 03451 55 00 22 or email [email protected].”