Orrell Park in Liverpool has had more bins and signage installed in an effort to encourage owners not to leave dog poo bags behind.
A survey by the Dogs Trust has found that more than one in ten dog owners admit leaving behind bags of poo on dog walks, mostly because they couldn’t find a bin.
The charity’s Walk This Way programme, in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy, aims to improve the situation by adding more bins and signage on popular dog walking routes.
Warbreck councillors Ann O’Byrne and Sam East are using their Mayoral Neighbourhood Funding to pay for Orrell Park to have colour-coded routes installed which clearly mark the length of the walk, and direct walkers to the nearest bins to dispose of their dogs’ waste.
The work is being co-ordinated by Orrell Park Green Team volunteers (pictured above) on all of the key routes leading to the Sustrans Loopline.
The walks will start being introduced in June and the bins and signage will be in place until November.
Cabinet member for Neighbourhoods and Communities, Councillor Abdul Qadir, said: “Dog mess is one of the biggest frustrations for our residents and we want to encourage dog owners to be responsible and dispose of waste responsibly. This is a great initiative and I hope that, if successful, it is something that could be replicated in other areas of the city.”
Michelle Moat, Community Education & Engagement Officer at Dogs Trust, said: “Walking a dog is a wonderful pastime with many health benefits for both owner and pooch. However, part of being a responsible dog owner is ensuring you pick up after your dog and suitably dispose of the waste. Previous interventions in other parts of the country, have shown that by having more bins available, clearer signposting and messaging that ‘Any Bin Will Do’ has dramatically improved the surrounding areas.
We’re excited by the potential of our new Walk This Way routes and can’t wait to see the improvements it will make. Hopefully it will be a long-term change to the area and make the space more enjoyable for everyone.”
Keep Britain Tidy Litter and Place Services Manager, Rachel Scarisbrick, said: “We are pleased to be continuing this partnership to help dog owners clear up their dog poo and make green, public spaces free from unwanted waste.
“We have already seen that Walk This Way has reduced the amount of waste left behind by dog owners and we hope that this success can continue in even more sites this year.”
Walk This Way previously ran in 2017 (with 6 sites) and again in 2018 (with 15 sites), encouraging owners to correctly deposit their dog’s waste in any general waste bin and helped reduced instances of fouling by 38% and 40% respectively.
