Scots are being urged to “finish the jobbie” after a survey found that dog owners are bagging but not binning their pet’s poop.
Keep Scotland Beautiful have now completed their #TurdTag campaign which revealed an average of 12 steaming mounds per 100 metres.
Local residents were asked to take note of dog fouling incidents in their area before reporting their findings back to the charity.
The study, which involved more than 100 volunteers, found that there were 1.5x more bagged and littered poos than those left unbagged.
Paul Wallace, Campaign and Social Innovation Manager at Keep Scotland Beautiful said: “Our snapshot survey highlights the increasing number of bagged poos littered across Scotland.
“So, we are urging those who start to do the right thing, and pick up after their dogs, not to do ‘half the jobbie’.
“If you make the effort to take a bag and pick up the poo, you need to take the next step and bin it or take it home and bin it there.
“Leaving your dog’s poo on the ground is illegal, but littering a bagged poo is also illegal.
“We’re pleading with dog owners to stop being so selfish.
“We have all had more time to spend in our local communities over the last couple of months – and that has increased people’s awareness of this illegal, unsightly and dangerous habit.”
With local authorities having to temporarily reduce or suspend some services, due to the Covid-19 crisis, to prioritise essential services to protect public health, bagging and binning, or taking your dog waste home at this time is vitally important.
Alex Jackson, Head of Campaigns at Dogs Trust, said: “It’s so important that the small minority of dog owners that don’t pick up after their dog do so.
“For dog owners who are unaware, they should know that they can deposit poo bags in any public bin, and not only those designated for dog poo.
“We’d like to see local authorities moving dog owners towards the right course of action by adding more signs which explain what they should do, and installing more bins in dog fouling hotspots.”
