Dog mess: why, oh why bag it if you are not going to bin it?
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Dog mess. Bagged, but not binned. The Ranger has pondered this modern mystery for many years. Discussions with his colleagues have revealed this this phenomenon is not uncommon. So why? Please, some bag-discarder, tell us, why do you do this? If you can bag it – which is the nastiest bit of the task – surely you can manage to carry it to the nearest bin? By way of exasperated exposition, The Ranger presents this photograph, taken this week on a cricket field near his workplace, and within 20 metres of a dog bin.
An unusual obstruction in the outfield
So, an enquiry. How widespread is this phenomenon? Have you seen it? Please do tell if and where you have seen dog mess bagged and discarded in hedges, fields, on paths or even on cricket pitches. Or if you live somewhere and this never, ever, happens, do tell – perhaps The Ranger will apply for a job there!
And as a Ranger, how often have you picked up a harmless looking supermarket carrier, only to find that it has become a surrogate dog poo bag? Some people even leave them in the same place each day, with the (mistaken) idea that the Rangers will pick them up.
I have some undercover information from a regular dog walker which may or may not shed some light on the poo-bag phenomenon: she does a circular walk, one day clockwise, one day anti-clockwise. If her dogs excrete at the beginning of the walk she leaves the bags by the path and collects them the next day to take home when it is the end of the walk. It’s a nice thought that poo bags are there awaiting collection. Hmmm. Having recently looked after aforementioned 2 dogs recently, The Wildlife Gardener was so put off by the amount of poo (uncompostable = useless)dogs produce that it is unlikely we would consider one as a pet.
At last Ive discovered I am not alone in my exasperation at the weird phenomenon of plastic bags filled with dog mess,hurled into trees and hanging on bushes.I have lots of pictures on my camera which is probably a bit sad but it really infuriates and puzzles me.Ive seen bags festooned in some of the beauty spots of Cornwall,along the coastal paths and along country house paths.Some bags are coloured to add to the attractive effect.
They hang there rotting and festering for months or maybe years.
Its as if they absolve themselves of responsibility once its picked up.Not their problem anymore.I fail to understand the logic.
They are probably the sort of people who bang on about the environment.
I had a discussion with a permenant seasonal shop assistant who worked in a country park i used to work in. On the subject of dog poo and bins, bags etc. She said that she bags her dogs (6 of them) poo and just leaves it under one of the trees or puts it down a rabbit hole, on asking why she didn’t put it in a dog bin, she said that it was too far away and that we should put some on the meadow areas where dogs werre walked. Obviousely she didn’t see the bins (2) that were position in the carpark that she parked in!! All this from an employee……………i ask you, needless to say i don’t work there anymore and have no inclination to return to urban fringe park rangering, i’m now in the highlands of scotland….bliss.
In reply to stainsby girl. The sort of person who drops litter and lets their dog foul everywhere doesn’t have a better nature (nor a brain).The phenomena of ornamental poo bags festooning trees and bushes appears to be nationwide.
As a slight change of tack, on a site I used to manage a great deal of expense and time was taken to create a series of accessible paths for people with mobility difficulties, a common problem on these paths were piles of dog mess, usually right in the middle of the path. Despite numerous notices, polite warnings and occaisional slanging matches the problem persists. As I said earlier this type of person has no better nature or conscience!
Yes, those red bins do burn terribly well, don’t they? I’ve had to clear up a few but never been in the vicinity when one was blazing away. The mind boggles when trying to imagine what it must smell like.
Well, it matches the lager cans, broken bottles, discarded needles and durex and other litter left by the general public. It’s an education thing. Maybe if we spent a little less time doing the “thou shalt and shalt not” notices and more time trying to appeal to peoples better nature.
We get plenty of bags slung in bushes and brambles, and when someone has torched the poo bin (who would want to do that?) people just heap up the filled bags on the remains, rather than find another one. Bags in the bushes wouldn’t be so bad if they were biodegradeable (although I suspect that the wouldn degrade before the next mowing/ strimming). Our animal welfare officers have biodegradable bags to give away and have recently got them in nice colours like purple and bright pink, well it is Brighton! The bushes should look much nice than with those boring old dark green ones they used to give away.