A SCHOOL has urged ignorant dog owners to show some respect to its playing fields and pathways.
Dog muck on the sports fields at Teesdale School has worsened since the Easter break and has forced some games lessons to be moved off the grounds.
It has sparked health concerns among staff with faeces getting trod on during commutes and then spread indoors. PE teacher Alastair French holds lessons on the playing fields most days and has had to pick up muck on several occasions.
He said: “Daily I can have conversations with dog owners letting their pets run off the lead from 9am until 3pm and they don’t see anything wrong with it.
“If we are doing sports like rugby I have to come out with a spade to clean up beforehand. The amount of dog poo on here after we broke up for Easter was unbelievable.”
Teaching time has been lost picking up the dog mess and Mr French believed the fouling problem was just as bad after school hours.
He added: “The general opinion among people is I can do this and I am allowed to do this. I’ve challenged them and my colleagues have challenged them but they just don’t care.”
Two dog bins are within a few hundred yards of the field and Durham County Council now allows dog waste to be disposed of in normal rubbish bins. Pressure was increased on ignorant pet owners last year with on the spot fines for fouling increased to £100 under the county council’s Public Space Protection Order scheme. If a case reaches court, the maximum penalty can reach £1,000.
The school stressed the welfare of pupils was a top priority and lessons were moved away from the area once dog muck was spotted.
New executive headteacher Janice Gorlach has vowed to make the Barnard Castle high school the best in the region. But Ms Gorlach explained everyone had to pull together if the ultimate goal was to be reached.
She said: “It’s up to the community to support the school – we’ve already seen a rapid improvement with our GCSE results taking us into the top four in the county.
“If we want to be outstanding, everything has got to be outstanding and that means our facilities as well.”
