Volunteers spray-paint dog mess to highlight problem areas in Daventry

A crackdown on dog fouling which has seen volunteers spray-painting dog mess with orange paint has been hailed a success.

As part of Daventry District Council’s Paint Means Poo initiative, volunteers visit their local dog fouling hotspots every week over a six-week period, spraying any mess they find and recording the results.

Thirty-four communities across the district took part in September and October last year. The 28 who returned their results recorded a 51 per cent reduction in the amount of dog fouling found, from a total of 288 in the first week to 140 in week six.

It is the second year running the scheme has seen positive results – incidents of dog fouling fell from 343 to 157 across the 24 areas that took part in the same period in 2016.

The latest campaign was supported by the Canal and River Trust, which helped to promote the campaign on towpaths, and Daventry’s Pets at Home store, which ran a free poo bag giveaway.

Stickers reminding dog owners that they can put poo bags in normal litter bins – not just the dedicated dog waste bins - were produced during the campaign and will now be made available to parishes district-wide after proving successful.

The campaign also allowed the council to identify a number of hotspot areas which can now be targeted for patrols by its dog wardens.

Councillor Richard Auger, the council’s health and housing portfolio holder, said: “We would like to thank everyone who put time and effort into supporting this initiative, which has delivered another positive set of results.

“As well as reducing the problem, volunteer initiatives such as this help reinforce the message to irresponsible dog owners that failing to clear up after your dog is antisocial and unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our communities.”