Calls for doggie public toilets to open across the UK
Pet owners are being asked to back a campaign calling on local authorities across Britain to create public toilets for dogs in parks and other popular locations.
Pet experts at Years.com are calling for doggie public toilets to be set up across the country to reduce the number of dog fouling cases.
The move comes after a unique doggie public toilet was unveiled in Dublin after the city council there decided to tackle the problem. The Public Doggie Toilet complete with its own pee post is located in the north inner city, is a small rectangular area enclosed by a low wooden fence. The area also includes free waste bags to encourage owners to pick up after their pets while away from the public toilets.
Now experts are calling for similar facilities to be opened across the UK to spare the blushes of caught short canines and their owners. From 2020 to 2021, there was an 8.3% increase in dog fouling, with this number expected to have risen beyond 10% in the last year.
Darren Beale, founder of Years.com said: "We're calling for the doggie public toilets to become accessible for all dog owners in the UK to solve the nationwide problem of dog fouling. The statistics show this problem isn't getting any better, which is why we're urging pet owners to get behind the campaign to create more public toilets for dogs to support the message of cleaning up after your dog.
"The last thing anyone wants to do is accidentally step into dog waste while on a walk, or even worse have their child trip and stumble onto it. If dog waste isn't cleaned up, it can cause parasites and parvovirus to spread if people touch it and don't wash themselves afterwards.
"Now the weather is warming up, more dog owners will be hitting the streets with their four-legged friends, meaning this issue could worsen in the coming months. While dog waste bins are available in many areas, they tend to fill up and don't get disposed of as quickly as they should be. This is another way to deter owners from picking up dog waste as they don't want to be left carrying the bag with them all the way home.
"But if the doggie public toilets are introduced in more spaces, it allows for dogs to have a clean space to go to the toilet and owners can pick up free bags to hopefully reduce the amount of waste left on the streets. If they aren't introduced into more areas of the UK, we fear this issue is only going to spiral and make public pathways and parks unpleasant for all Brits, not just dog owners."
