Richard Baum

Yesterday I was leafleting and saw a man allow his dog to foul the pavement twice within about 50 yards, whilst the dog was on a lead about four feet from the owner. One of the two occasions was actually right outside the man’s own door.

I could barely believe what I was seeing, and would have challenged him were it not for the fact that his dog looked a bit growly, and he himself looked like he could kill me with a single blow, and wouldn’t hesitate to show me how.

People get so fed up with dog dirt on the pavements. And it’s no surprise. It is one of the most unpleasant acts of vandalism that I can think of, and I can’t believe that anyone would let their dog do that without immediately cleaning it up. Apart from the general unpleasantness it is also obviously a major health hazard. If we had people just squatting down and doing that on the pavement, rather than dogs, there’d be outcry, so why do some people find it acceptable to let their dogs do it?

If the dog was a stray, or the owner wasn’t looking, then I could accept it a bit more – carelessness rather than malice. Yes, it should be sorted, but worse things happen. This guy though, was right there in front of his animal, and just walked away, leaving the mess behind for someone else to deal with (and lots of other people to step in).

I despair sometimes that people can treat their community with such shocking disrespect. Where’s the morality in saying to your neighbours “I value you so little that I will let my dog crap outside your house, and just walk away and leave it there. It’s someone else’s problem, not mine. I have better things to do.”

Lots of people complain to me about dog mess, and I sympathise. We have asked for more patrols, more enforcement, and more warning signs. We have got a lot of it, and we’re getting more. And this guy will get a prosecution letter through the post because I grassed him up this morning. But it will never be solved without the message getting through to the thoughtless minority of dog owners that they owe us all the courtesy of cleaning up after their animals.

It’s the same mentality for litter-bugs. We need more pride in our community, which is one of the reasons why our candidate Mary D’Albert launched her “Pride in Prestwich” campaign for these elections.

I feel bad that I didn’t challenge this man, but he will get his comeuppance, and we need all the good people to make sure that all the bad ones get their’s too. So if you see dog-fouling, or litter dropping, then let me know. We can work together with the Council to get more enforcement, fine and punish the culprits and make it clear to everyone that we want pride in our local area.

Rick