A GAINFORD businesswoman has launched a campaign to rid her village of a scourge of dog fouling.
Evie Hole-Todd noticed the wide extent of the dog poo problem when she started her dog-walking business, Wuffalo Walks and Talks, last year.
She said: “I’ve lived in the village my whole life, but obviously I am walking around a lot more now and it was just all over, so I thought we will have to do something about this.
“I met a couple of people who live in the village as well and we agreed that we have to do something because it is getting out of hand.”
As part of the campaign, Ms Hole-Todd will chat to children at the local primary school during an assembly on May 20.
Along with giving an educational talk about the problem, she will launch a poster competition with the top three designs being put up in the village to create awareness.
She will work with the children to use milk cartons to create dispensers for poo bags which will be dotted around problem areas in Gainford.
The problem has been ongoing in the village for years, to the extent that Gainford and Langton Parish Council bought a “poover” and employed a person to clean up regularly.
Ms Hole-Todd said: “I’ve been in touch with the parish council and I’ve asked if we can get the poover and hopefully do a big clean up. I’ve also asked for some funding to paint some of the dog poo bins that are looking worse for wear and re-sign them all.
In addition, she has asked parish council members to fund poo bags to put in the dispensers.
She said: “I have been in touch with Durham County Council because there was a broken poo bin near St Peters and they have been really efficient and they’ve replaced it with a new one.
“Most of the people in the village have a dog, and hopefully, if we get the issue in people’s minds a bit more, it will remind them to clear their dog’s mess. Hopefully people will get on board with it.”
Meanwhile, in Barnard Castle, town council members were told that people need to supply more information when reporting dog fouling.
A county council neighbourhood warden told a services committee meeting that most people’s reports are anonymous and do not include a good enough description of the person who has not cleaned up after their dog.
The warden, who covers the Teesdale area, said: “We get plenty of complaints but no information or description of who to look for. Without saying ‘it is Mr Smith from down the road’ I haven’t a clue and I could be looking for anything.”
He added that although his work included littering, stray animals, abandoned vehicles, rubbish bin issues and anti-social behaviours, it was dog fouling which took up most of his time.
He added: “Barnard Castle is not the worst place I have ever been. Dog fouling is a big issue and I deal with it every day I am on duty.”
Explaining how best to report incidents, the warden said: “Do it online or call the council direct. It gets recorded by customer services and they send it direct to me. If you have left your name and contact details, I’ll phone you. The first part of my job is to contact the client and find out what the score is.”
