Dog poo left on a popular coastal walking route is being painted bright pink in a bid to pressurise owners to pick up after their pets. The pink poo-painting strategy is part of a council-backed move to try and cut dog fouling.
The approach was highlighted after a walker spotted the unexpected colourful additions to a walk along Llandudno's West Shore path. Dog owner Martin Richardson, from Penrhyn Bay, posted photos of the fluorescent excrement in a post on Facebook page showing piles of dog mess he said had been "sprayed".
Mr Richardson told NorthWalesLive dog fouling has "ruined" the popular walking spot. He said: "West Shore path is disgusting. As it’s only few minutes from their cars dogs tend to go to the loo quickly as they go on their walk. So many [dog owners] don’t pick it up, just keep walking." He added: "I can’t believe owners just walk without thinking bout their dog off a lead. They must get back to their cars or houses and don’t think: 'Oh my dog hasn’t been to the loo today'."
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One person replied to Mr Richardson's post to say: "As a dog owner and having children who’s stood in it before now I always pick up bag and bin my dog's poo. People who don’t pick it up are just lazy and have no respect for their own town. If caught should be fined and give us responsible dog owners a bad name."
Another said: "What bugs me is when the human walks in front of their dog oblivious to everything that their dog is up to. Lost count of the amount of times I have shouted after people to let them know their dog has pooed, even given them a bag to pick it up with. DON'T HAVE A DOG IF YOU CANT PICK UP AFTER IT. SIMPLE."
In his Facebook post Mr Richardson questioned why the poo had been painted, rather than just being disposed of. He wrote: "Why has someone sprayed all the dog poo not picked up with purple spray along West Shore path?" One person replied: "Probably so you don't stand in it and a good idea."
But the move is actually part of a "radical" anti-fouling approach organised by a local environmental group in collaboration with Keep Wales Tidy. Philip Berrie, vice-chair of Friends of West Shore, said: "We've seen the issue of dog fouling getting worse, especially over the last six months. It seems some people don't care at all and others are of the mindset: 'If nobody else is bothering to pick up after their dog then why should I?' One of our members came up with this fairly radical approach to highlight dog fouling using pink paint.
"We've had support from Conwy Council and Keep Wales Tidy have donated the non-toxic chalk paint, which I want to stress is non-hazardous for humans and animals. Our aspiration is to reduce dog fouling by about 50%."
The group's chair, councillor Louise Emery, said: "I am confident that this initiative will reduce dog fouling by putting moral pressure on the minority of dog owners who don’t pick up. We need to spread the message that abandoning dog muck on the pavements and footpaths that we all use is completely unacceptable."
Conwy Council confirmed the scheme is part of Keep Wales Tidy working in partnership with local authorities and Welsh Government. They also noted the chalk based paint has "no detrimental environmental impacts and washes away in the rain".
