Pet owners are being asked to back a campaign to see local authorities creating public toilets for dogs in parks and other popular locations. It comes as a council in Ireland unveiled its own public toilet for dogs.
Experts at Years.com believe the dog public toilets could be set up across the country in a bid to clampdown on fouling. Dublin City Council's initiative has its own "pee post" located in a small rectangular area enclosed by a wooden fence.
The area also includes free waste bags to encourage owners to pick up after their pets while away from the public toilets. Experts believe similar facilities should be open for canines who are caught short.
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 dog 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.
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“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.”
