Minefield moan…

Dog poo on the streets has always existed, but not to the extent that it does these days. That’s my impression, anyway.

In the past, almost daily hosing of the streets, even during prolonged periods of drought, probably helped to ease the situation, but it doesn’t seem to be the case nowadays. Especially considering the drought has officially ended.

Many moons ago, the Council instigated a campaign, with the usual ‘vigour’, to clampdown on irresponsible pet owners. It appears to have consisted of nothing more than the placing of a few signs here and there, which I doubt the pooches can read anyway.

The situation has worsened considerably since this campaign, some streets being almost akin to minefields as far as trying to avoid the residual waste is concerned. And what is all this ‘residual waters’ and ‘residual waste’ all about anyway? It’s just fortunate sometimes that house floors are tiles and not carpets. Avenida Castlla Perez, Calle Manuel Marin and Calle Chaparil, to name but three, are almost constantly covered.

The other day, there were around thirty ‘piles’ on calle Manuel Marin, and the street is only 165 metres in length!

Up until about a year ago, it was a common sight to see dog owners with plastic bags, often affixed to dog leashes, but this has also become a rare sight these days.

It could be, of course, that the daily washing of the streets will be reinstated for the summer and the problem won’t be as bad, but that is not the answer. It should not be that actions, be it street cleaning, repainting or repairs, are only carried out prior to the arrival of visitors. People also live here all year round.

There are, of course, a lot of stray animals around, but in no way can this be the main cause of the current situation.

The solution rests with everyone. There has to be adequate cleaning of the streets, all year round, responsibility exercised by those of us who have pets and proper monitoring of the situation.

Dogs have to go, as do humans, so why not provide public dog conveniences in strategic locations? It works very well indeed in many towns and cities throughout Europe.