A hospital in Swansea is appealing for dog owners to clean up after their pets because they "don’t have adequate resources" to do it for them.
Cefn Coed Hospital, a mental health facility in Sketty, Swansea, has stood on the site for almost 90 years and has large and spacious grounds surrounding it.
Swansea University Health Board said it had noted a marked increase in the number of dog walkers using the site for their daily exercise since the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown in March.
The health board said it was happy for people to use the grounds for exercising and to walk their dogs, but the amount of dog mess left behind was "becoming a problem."
It said some owners had even been picking their dog's mess up in a bag but then failing to dispose of it properly, leaving the bags littering the site.
Under current Welsh Government lockdown guidance people can exercise as much as they want but are urged to stay within five miles of their home, unless it is essential for them to go further afield.
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Lockdown measures are up for review on Thursday, June 18, and a loosening of guidance around exercising is expected to be announced by First Minister Mark Drakeford at a press conference on Friday.
Outdoor sports courts could be re-opened as part of the changes and the reopening of non-essential shops is another possibility.
Many retailers around Wales are already putting social-distancing measures in place in anticipation of getting the green light to reopen next week.
A statement from Swansea University Health Board, posted online, said: "Since lockdown we have seen a marked increase in the number of dog walkers using the Cefn Coed Hospital site for daily exercise.
"Whilst we don’t mind people walking their dogs in our large grounds, the amount of dog mess left behind is becoming a problem. Even when owners do pick up the mess in poo bags, some then leave the bags behind.
"We don’t have adequate resources to manage dog waste on hospital grounds, so can we please ask everyone walking their dogs at Cefn Coed Hospital to pick up their dog’s poo afterwards and take it home to dispose of safely."
