Britain appears to be suffering from an escalating dog crisis. Local media across the country are reporting on the “pooch poop plague” that accompanies the coronavirus pandemic.
The Gloucestershire Gazette said Friday dozens of its readers had complained that local “poo hotspots” were deteriorating during the national lockdown, possibly due to the dramatic increase in dog ownership in the UK last year.
“I never understood why someone would bother to bag their dog poop and then not just properly dispose of it and hang it on a tree or something … subhuman scrap!” said one reader.
In Essex, the locals in the village of Tiptree raved at the “absolutely disgusting” sight of “hanging poos” on branches.
“I was appalled by the sheer volume of dog waste bags thrown away,” dog walker Lynn White told Essex’s Daily Gazette.
Continue reading
“People need to understand that dog poop in these amounts is toxic, not to mention the danger. It’s absolutely disgusting. ”
Over the summer, the Kennel Club reported a 180 percent increase in inquiries from potential dog owners, while the RSPCA saw a six-fold increase in visits to their puppy care sites.
Pooch prices have also risen to reflect sky-high demand for companion animals during the pandemic.
“Our dogs are certainly helping us out with the pandemic and providing a welcome and happy distraction as Covid-19 is causing fear, suffering and disruption across the country,” said Bill Lambert, director of health and welfare at the Kennel Club.
What you need to know about the coronavirus variants
But the rise in dog ownership seems inevitably to lead to a surge in dog warfare, which has gotten so bad in Blackpool that the council has set up “dog poo patrols” for fine owners who cannot pick up their mutt’s mess.
“It’s very bad, in the street we live on there is chaos every meter. It’s usually in front of my house several times a week, ”a local told Lancashire Live.
“My youngest son is disabled and exercising is important to stay active and healthy, but it’s like a minefield that we sometimes resorted to.”
In the southwest, Devon Live reported that locals were planning a “poo protest” at Dartmoor’s Burrator Reservoir, as poo bags appeared around the lake hanging on people’s fences.
