Wirral’s newly formed dog patrol aims to reclaim the streets from dog mess

Oct 3 2012 by Helen Hunt, Heswall News

AN ARMY of animal ambassadors will help reclaim the streets from dog mess.

Wirral Council has put together a band of responsible dog owners which it hopes will spread the message about being a good pet owner and cleaning up after your dog.

The “Dog Lead” action group will go out into the community and offer guidance to other dog walkers while they are out and about exercising their pets.

The council asked for volunteers in May this year and received more than 100 responses.

Officials say their role is “primarily educational” and about imparting information informally.

But as part of that role they will be spending time with the borough’s dog fouling enforcement team to learn more about the problem of dog fouling and the challenges the team faces in trying to tackle the issue on a daily basis.

Cllr Brian Kenny, Wirral council cabinet member for environment, said: “Dog fouling remains one of those issues which, quite rightly, raises the hackles of residents.

“We are committed to doing everything we can to tackle it and the idea behind the ‘dog lead’ group is that we enlist the support of responsible dog owners to help us and apply peer pressure to other less responsible owners.

“Dog mess left on the pavement or in the park can reflect badly on all dog owners, the more we can spread the word about the benefits of responsible dog ownership, the better. Their message is simple – we want our pavements and parks back.”

Join the Dog Lead team – www.wirral.gov.uk/ doglead and fill in the online form.