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Today, I made the calamitous mistake of taking my 3 children for a football kick-about on The Dell, Peacehaven where I live and I could not believe the amount of dog shit strewn across the area. It really has to be seen to be believed.
The first kick of the ball, and as my 18-month old daughter picked it up with her hands, her hands and coat were smeared with dog faeces.
Our shoes and ball were covered in the delightful output of some dog or other and as I looked around to try and find the offending dogs’ owners to tell them what I thought of their disgusting indifference and inconsideration to others, I was truly dumbfounded as the field looked like open day at Crufts - there were over 20 dog/owner sets all romping around, and whereas I have no problem with dog owners exercising their pets on the Dell, I do object to them using it as a toilet for their animals.
How is it that I cannot allow my children to play on the Dell without the worry that they will come back home covered in dog shit?
The red bins marked "clean it up" are a waste of time. Some owners do, but most are quite happy to "forget" or "not see it" as was the comment I had from one angry owner after I confronted them as they ignored their dogs fouling. This really is way out of order.
Dog owners should be responsible and let their dogs use their own garden as a toilet, not where small children play.
We need some mechanism of preventing dog fouling on the Dell, and some mechanism for enforcing it too. What can be done to stop this problem?
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