Litter and Dog Fouling

Thurrock Council cuts will mean mean less litter picking, less emptying of bins and no uniform presence to discourage littering. Coming soon to a Country Park near you?

(from geograph.org.uk)

(from flickr.com)

Dog Fouling
For information on laws regarding dog-fouling see:
http://www.environmentlaw.org.uk/rte.asp?id=50

At this time there are 19 dog-waste bins in the Country Parks and, to a great extent, the park users make use of them. Unfortunately some simply do not clear up behind their pets, others perhaps even less considerate, do bag the waste but simply leave the plastic bag of waste as litter for the Country Park Rangers to clear up.

One of the less pleasant tasks the Country Park Rangers perform is the emptying and disposal of dog waste. To put this into some kind of perspective, it is estimated that at least 26 metric tons of dog waste are collected and disposed of each year! There can be absolutely no doubt that in the absence of convenient dog waste bins and the watchful eyes of on-park Rangers, most of this waste will simply be left within the parks with all of the associated unpleasantness and health risk.

Apart from being an unpleasant nuisance if you step in it, fall in it, cycle through it, or wheel your wheelchair through it, dog mess can also be a health hazard. Both dog and cat faeces can contain the eggs of the roundworm 'Toxocara'.  These eggs can survive in the soil for several years. If they are ingested or inhaled by humans, they may cause eye, liver, brain and respiratory problems such as asthma, hepatitis and epilepsy.   Children playing in fouled recreation areas are most at risk. Dog waste is also a potential health risk to farmers' livestock if you allow your dog to foul in their 
fields.

If council plans are progressed we need to consider the fact that the meadows, verges and other area will not be cut back on a regular basis as now, making dog waste less obvious and thus less avoidable.

Litter
As with dog waste a considerable amount of litter is carelessly disposed of in the parks. Once again the Country Park Rangers perform litter picking duties on a regular basis. If this effort were to stop for any length of time the Country Parks will become very unpleasant and unsafe places to visit.

(extracts from Action Group Report, section 4.2 Health & Safety Implications and Risks. Click to view the full Report)