Bo'ness pupils launch campaign to stop owners allowing dogs to foul in school playground

Youngsters at St Mary’s Primary in Bo’ness have now launched a campaign to make people aware of the problem … and why it must stop.

Primary five pupil Riley Duffy felt so strongly about the issue that he brought it to the attention of headteacher Stephen McPeake.

Members of the pupil council, which is made up of children in primary four to seven, were then given the challenge to come up with a campaign to tackle the unpleasant problem.

Teacher Mhairi McCammon explained that dog fouling has become a real problem and, while everyone appreciated that it was probably just a small number of irresponsible dog owners whose pets were causing the mess, the pupils wanted to do something to ensure it was stopped.

She said: “The children organised a poster campaign to highlight the issue as they want to get the message out to parents, children and those living nearby that dog fouling can be dangerous and have health implications.

"Dogs are not allowed on our school grounds therefore it is likely that the dog fouling is taking place in the evenings and at weekends.”

The poster competition saw a winner from every year group and Elvie McCracken from primary five was judged to have the overall winning poster.

The youngsters have also been in touch with Falkirk Council highlighting the issue.

It is an offence for someone not to clean up immediately after a dog in their care fouls in a public or communal place and this is enforced by the council under the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003.

The council makes it clear that it has a zero tolerance policy against dog fouling, adding: “Where this is witnessed by an authorised officer, we will take action against the person in charge of the dog. This will either be the issue of a Fixed Penalty Notice, or you can be reported to the Procurator Fiscal.”

It is estimated that there are eight million dogs producing more than 1000 tonnes of mess every day in the UK.

Whilst rare, contact with dog excrement can cause toxocariasis – a nasty infection that can lead to dizziness, nausea, asthma and even blindness or seizures.