The continuing problem of Dog Owners who walk their dogs on VEC Grounds.

The continuing problem of Dog Owners who walk their dogs on VEC Grounds.

The Springfield Ramblers Schoolboys Football Club has a serious problem at the VEC grounds in Carrignafoy due to the behaviour of dog owners and their inability to control their dogs and clean up after them. The grounds are used by the club for training and the playing of schoolboys’ football. The continuing insistence of some dog owners in exercising their dogs on these grounds is posing a serious health hazard for the boys and girls who play with the club. Dog owners are obliged to keep their pets on a lead in public areas and clean up their faeces after them as per Section 22 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997. The club coaches have to walk the playing pitch before every game to remove the faeces of dogs whose owners have flouted these litter laws. This is a weekly chore for the coaches who give their time voluntarily every week to provide the young people of Cobh with the opportunity to play football.

Dog Faeces

Under new litter laws (Section 22 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997), it is an offence to allow a dog under your control to foul a public place. This means the owner/person in charge of the dog is required under this law to remove dog faeces and dispose of it in a suitable, sanitary manner. You can make a complaint to the District Court under the litter laws against an owner or someone in charge of a dog who allows that dog to foul public places and who fails to act responsibly. Before you do this, you must first inform the dog owner of your intention by completing a special form available from the Dog Control Unit of your local authority.

Dog Fouling

Dog owners must now remove their pets’ waste from public places and dispose of it in a proper manner. This obligation applies to the following places:

• Public roads and footpaths
• Areas around shopping centres
• School/sports grounds
• Beaches
• The immediate area surrounding another person’s house.

Dog Poo – The Facts.
23^rd January 2011

Dog dirt is a serious problem for the Springfield Ramblers Schoolboys Football Club at the VEC Grounds.

On too many occasions a game has to be held up due to dog dirt being on the pitch, and requiring someone with a bag to remove it from the playing surface.

This problem is more acute because the ground is situated close to a built up area, especially in the centre of town.

But what is the problem, why is it such a bad thing that pet owners allow their animals to lay their faeces on our sports grounds and not pick them up?

Here are some important facts about dog poo and what it can and can’t do:

• It is NOT a good fertilizer for the grass. It is toxic to plants and grass in particular. The concentration of nutrients in dog dirt will burn and discolour the grass it lays on.
• Dog poo is classified as toxic in the US, and is deemed as much a pollutant as engine oil or industrial chemicals. It seeps into the water system and pollutes the water system causing harm to creatures in our rivers and streams.
• It can spread parasites such as Ringworms, Tapeworms and Salmonella. Infected dog poo on your lawn may disappear after a while, but the eggs of the nasty creatures remain in the grass for years. When the children play football on a pitch which has had infected dog poo on it, they run the risk of being infected with these nasty bugs.
• It may contain Crytosporidium, which causes sickness and diarrhoea.
• Dog poo is teaming with E.Coli and other harmful bacteria, which can cause kidney problems, cramps, diarrhoea and intestinal problems. [There are millions of faecal bacteria in one gram of dog waste.]
• It can contain a parasitic worm, Toxacara Canis, which causes blindness. If this worm is ingested it can cause disease to the brain, lungs, heart, liver and eyes. When footballers come into contact with dog faeces and then touch their mouths, they can become infected.

While the majority of dog owners are responsible and remove their dog’s faeces in a bag, there are many who don’t care where their dogs leave their waste and are mindless to their dog pooing on the pitches our children play on.

Today’s football coach not only needs a medical bag, but also requires some bags for cleaning up dog poo from the pitch before the game.

The Springfield Ramblers Schoolboys Football Club asks that all dog owners would respect the litter laws and clean up after their pets. Please allow us to have a safe area for the children of the club to play on. If the situation is allowed to continue we all run the risk of a child suffering a serious injury or illness.

www.springfieldramblers.ie

springrams@gmail.com