Leaving dog poo bags behind - danger to horses

Chuchote

In the New Forest in England they are finding a new problem: horses are dying from eating dog poo bags thrown away with their contents by dog walkers. Horses are attracted to the cereal content of the dog poo, and the bags are fatal to them.

On some of the new walkways, like the Deise Greenway, there is no provision for disposal - no litter bins - and dog walkers are doing the same. Please don't; anywhere horses are ridden or grazed, this will endanger their lives.

ger vallely

I've just recently moved from a rural area into the city. While walking my dog I am amazed at the amount of dog poop bags left on the streets. What is the point of cleaning it up into a bag to leave lying there? If anything it even worse than just leaving the poo. Although, there is a serious lack of bins around the city outskirts, still, no excuse.

Graces7

Was on a major N road yesterday and someone had dumped big black bin bags on the road.

muddypaws

Chuchote wrote: »

In the New Forest in England they are finding a new problem: horses are dying from eating dog poo bags thrown away with their contents by dog walkers. Horses are attracted to the cereal content of the dog poo, and the bags are fatal to them.

On some of the new walkways, like the Deise Greenway, there is no provision for disposal - no litter bins - and dog walkers are doing the same. Please don't; anywhere horses are ridden or grazed, this will endanger their lives.

A lot of the forests in the UK now have a stick and flick policy. Find a stick, and flick the poo into the undergrowth, rather than picking it up in a plastic bag.

Graces7

ger vallely wrote: »

I've just recently moved from a rural area into the city. While walking my dog I am amazed at the amount of dog poop bags left on the streets. What is the point of cleaning it up into a bag to leave lying there? If anything it even worse than just leaving the poo. Although, there is a serious lack of bins around the city outskirts, still, no excuse.

I think it has all got worse since the new bin charges row. More folk are abusing litter bins and many have signs to that effect. People need to face realities of pet ownership.

Mooooo

Just to add if near fields of cows take it away with you as well dogs can spread neospora which will have no effect on the dog but cows will abort and carry it on. It can be picked up from dog faeces. If a cow gets it they generally will end up being culled so a big financial loss

volchitsa

Mooooo wrote: »

Just to add if near fields of cows take it away with you as well dogs can spread neospora which will have no effect on the dog but cows will abort and carry it on. It can be picked up from dog faeces. If a cow gets it they generally will end up being culled so a big financial loss

I didn't know that, so thanks Moooo, I'd have just assumed there was no problem leaving dog poo in a field where cows leave their enormous cowpats!
(I wouldn't have left the plastic bags, naturally, just not thought of needing to pick up dog poos in a field sometimes used by cows.)

Outkast_IRE

To be honest i think illegal dumping and littering is one of the biggest environmental issues in the country at the moment.

I honestly believe either of two things should happen -

-Domestic waste collection is brought back into the hands of the govenment who can put it out to tender on an area by area basis and all those in the area have their bins taken care of. A bit like how it was before but privatised.

or

Every household be required to engage the services of a waste contractor i.e greenstar, wiser, panda etc. If a household does not have a waste collection service they must make their case why they dont require it. Also - make it mandatory for all landlords and council homes to have waste collection included in their rent.

Either of these options would help reduce the amount of illegal dumping going on. From personal experience i find rented houses and council houses to be one of the main sources hence my proposal to make it mandatory to have it inculded in rent.

People who pick up poo only to dump the bag are scum. They probably only pick up the poo if someone is watching and then dump it discreetly.

Ashbx

I cant speak for New Forest in England or rural Ireland, but the amount of bins in Dublin is ridiculously low....especially in the likes of parks/mountains etc....where people generally walk their dogs.

Just as an example, in my local park in Dublin there are 9 ways to enter this park and only ONE of these entrances has a bin (which is usually full). The other bin is located in the playground, somewhere a dog walker is not allowed go into. Im hardly going to ask a child to dispose of my poo bag! There's been a handful of times that in this park I have had to leave my bag ontop of the bin....I have had no other choice. So the County Council seriously need to consider installing more bins in public areas.

I saw the article you are referring to and by no means would I ever through it into a private field. I would use the stick and flick approach that someone else mentioned here!

tk123

Ashbx wrote: »

There's been a handful of times that in this park I have had to leave my bag ontop of the bin....I have had no other choice.

Ah come on - you could have carried it to the nearest bin or if you don't have one on your route home put in in your own bin when you get back. We've taken poos in the car and pulled over to bin them before. I even got a grabber thing in Dealz for my friend so she could drop the poos out of the car window into the bin without having to get out of the car! :pac:

A spot I've been forced to walk in as Bailey is restricted is FULL of poo. :mad: There's 5 bins in a 5 min (max) radius of this little walkway but the same scum let their scummy little dogs (it's small dog poo) poo all over the place. :mad::mad::mad:

Chuchote

I'd prefer if the rubbish collection was de-privatised. It worked much better when it was part of the state service.

As for the litterbins, I wrote to a local (Labour) councillor after four were removed in my street and the next street. She wrote back to explain that they were being abused by people using them to dump household rubbish. I replied to say that this was because a perfectly good state service had been privatised and many people couldn't afford the bin charges. She didn't write back. A load more litterbins have been removed since.

tk123

Chuchote wrote: »

I'd prefer if the rubbish collection was de-privatised. It worked much better when it was part of the state service.

As for the litterbins, I wrote to a local (Labour) councillor after four were removed in my street and the next street. She wrote back to explain that they were being abused by people using them to dump household rubbish. I replied to say that this was because a perfectly good state service had been privatised and many people couldn't afford the bin charges. She didn't write back. A load more litterbins have been removed since.

You should ask for the smaller poo bins! Abusers avoid them because they're full of poo One has appeared down the road from us but outside the park gate we don't use lol - too far to walk so I bring them home.

CityBin allow dog poo in compostable bags. I use compostable nappy bags for the poos that are going in our bin...

Chuchote

tk123 wrote: »

You should ask for the smaller poo bins! Abusers avoid them because they're full of poo One has appeared down the road from us but outside the park gate we don't use lol - too far to walk so I bring them home.

CityBin allow dog poo in compostable bags. I use compostable nappy bags for the poos that are going in our bin...

Neighbours have been asking; they have been refused.

sillysmiles

I don't see why in areas of high dog walking it isn't possible to have these types of bins that are only big enought for poop bags.

http://www.belloo.com/bilder/belloo-combi-gruen-2.jpg

.......

This post has been deleted.

Jayop

When I'm walking herself if she does her business near the start of the walk I'll bag it and put the bag somewhere along the walk out of the way and then pick it up on the way back rather than carry it the whole way with me as there's no bins out anywhere along my route.

pilly

My kids laugh at me arriving home with a bag full of dog poo but I don't see why people can't bring them home if they can't find a bin. It comes with the joy of having a dog, put up with the messy parts.

I came home the other evening to a huge poo right on my doorstep, fuming.

Jayop

Yeah the amount of people who leave poos behind is scandalous. I never really noticed it until we got our dog and you spend half the walk trying to pull the dog passed other people messes that they left behind them.

Chuchote

Jayop wrote: »

When I'm walking herself if she does her business near the start of the walk I'll bag it and put the bag somewhere along the walk out of the way and then pick it up on the way back rather than carry it the whole way with me as there's no bins out anywhere along my route.

I see the Phantom Bin Removers have got the bin that was outside Rathmines College (the old town hall). Complete madness - students gather outside; the place is going to be an utter mess of cigarette boxes, cartons and tins.

I get the impression that the Council is actually getting rid of all the litterbins, one by one.

Jayop

Chuchote wrote: »

I see the Phantom Bin Removers have got the bin that was outside Rathmines College (the old town hall). Complete madness - students gather outside; the place is going to be an utter mess of cigarette boxes, cartons and tins.

I get the impression that the Council is actually getting rid of all the bins, one by one.

Where I live is bad enough, it's a small rural village so no bins is annoying but understandable. Big towns and cities are unbelievable. Sligo is a joke for how few bins there are along the main roads.

loyatemu

muddypaws wrote: »

A lot of the forests in the UK now have a stick and flick policy. Find a stick, and flick the poo into the undergrowth, rather than picking it up in a plastic bag.

this makes a lot more sense than putting it in plastic and adding it to the waste cycle.

.......

This post has been deleted.

Graces7

Chuchote wrote: »

I'd prefer if the rubbish collection was de-privatised. It worked much better when it was part of the state service.

As for the litterbins, I wrote to a local (Labour) councillor after four were removed in my street and the next street. She wrote back to explain that they were being abused by people using them to dump household rubbish. I replied to say that this was because a perfectly good state service had been privatised and many people couldn't afford the bin charges. She didn't write back. A load more litterbins have been removed since.

When I was market trading, I used to see a woman very early walking along the main road in the villag, putting a small bag of each rubbish in each litter bin as she passed it...

I am deep rural with no collection;I recycle almost everything and use paper etc to light the fire. Dog poo goes where it should; in the toilet

But i have the advantage that I do not walk her off the land here which I know is not what yu folk have to deal with

Chuchote

One thing people should do, but don't, is bring their plastic packaging back to supermarkets once they've freed all the vegetables and fruit from it. If the shops had to deal with the detritus they would soon change the packaging.

pilly

Whilst I agree with OP, I am always amazed in rural Ireland how there's a kick off about dog poo but horse poo is acceptable anywhere and everywhere.

They go past my door every Sunday morning, must be on a trekking trail and the amount of poo left behind is unreal. Why is this so acceptable? What if kids played with that? Or dogs or cats ate it?

granturismo

pilly wrote: »

Whilst I agree with OP, I am always amazed in rural Ireland how there's a kick off about dog poo but horse poo is acceptable anywhere and everywhere.

They go past my door every Sunday morning, must be on a trekking trail and the amount of poo left behind is unreal. Why is this so acceptable? What if kids played with that? Or dogs or cats ate it?

Poo from a healthy horse is generally not as much a health hazard as poo from a healthy dog - herbivore versus carnivore.
However, if you know which stables the horses are from, I dont see why they wouldnt follow the rides and shovel the crap into the ditch if you make a complaint to them.

pilly

granturismo wrote: »

Poo from a healthy horse is generally not as much a health hazard as poo from a healthy dog - herbivore versus carnivore.
However, if you know which stables the horses are from, I dont see why they wouldnt follow the rides and shovel the crap into the ditch if you make a complaint to them.

Thanks, I'll try to find out. The road I destroyed after they go by.

I know it's probably impractical but in Dublin the horses that drive the horse and carriage have poo bags attached.

muddypaws

pilly wrote: »

Whilst I agree with OP, I am always amazed in rural Ireland how there's a kick off about dog poo but horse poo is acceptable anywhere and everywhere.

They go past my door every Sunday morning, must be on a trekking trail and the amount of poo left behind is unreal. Why is this so acceptable? What if kids played with that? Or dogs or cats ate it?

My dogs would definitely eat it, a great delicacy. Horses don't eat meat, so the poo breaks down quite quickly, unlike dog poo. Birds will also help to make it disappear.

Horses in Killarney have to wear nappies I think.

decky1

muddypaws wrote: »

A lot of the forests in the UK now have a stick and flick policy. Find a stick, and flick the poo into the undergrowth, rather than picking it up in a plastic bag.

what a great idea, I've been doing that for ages [thought I was the only one]but still getting looks from the do gooder's:eek: [oh you should have a bag] yes missus and you should have one too ---over your f##k'in head, if only everyone would make some effort eg bag or stick just move it you can have all the bins in the world but if people don't use them what can you do?

tk123

decky1 wrote: »

yes missus and you should have one too ---over your f##k'in head,

:pac::pac: I lol'd

sillysmiles

pilly wrote: »

Whilst I agree with OP, I am always amazed in rural Ireland how there's a kick off about dog poo but horse poo is acceptable anywhere and everywhere.

There is a massive difference between horse and dog poo. Horse poo is effectively "clean" dirty. It's grass. It is way less likely to carry pathogens that are harmful to humans.

pilly

sillysmiles wrote: »

There is a massive difference between horse and dog poo. Horse poo is effectively "clean" dirty. It's grass. It is way less likely to carry pathogens that are harmful to humans.

So you'd be happy with kids eating it would you?

.......

This post has been deleted.

sillysmiles

pilly wrote: »

So you'd be happy with kids eating it would you?

Grew up on a dairy farm. Honestly it wouldn't bother me. I wouldn't sit now to a plate of it, but if it was your hands I wouldn't have to go and wash straight away as I would with dog poo. I see horse and cow **** in the same catagory.

Ashbx

tk123 wrote: »

Ah come on - you could have carried it to the nearest bin or if you don't have one on your route home put in in your own bin when you get back. We've taken poos in the car and pulled over to bin them before. I even got a grabber thing in Dealz for my friend so she could drop the poos out of the car window into the bin without having to get out of the car! :pac:

A spot I've been forced to walk in as Bailey is restricted is FULL of poo. :mad: There's 5 bins in a 5 min (max) radius of this little walkway but the same scum let their scummy little dogs (it's small dog poo) poo all over the place. :mad::mad::mad:

Unfortunately the nearest bin to that park is 45 mins walk away.....in my own home. There is not one bin between my house and the park. I have two dogs who pull like trains and wear head harnesses so can be quite sensitive and one is quite leash reactive so I need my hands free to have a dog in each hand, so I am not carrying the poo in the bag that will be banging off my hand etc. just because the council couldn't be bothered to put an extra bin or two into a public park or empty the one they have. I have in the past tied my dogs up and put the poo into the bin in the playground and I got nothing but filthy looks from parents for daring to put dog poo in one of the only two bins in the park. So yes, if the bins are full, its going on top!

Now, I would never leave it at the side of the road and if im in the car yes I throw it in the boot and put it in my own bin. And as I said in my other post, if I don't have a bag or a bin to put it into, I get a stick and use the stick and flick approach. But unfortunately, walking home with the poo in my hands isn't an option when I do this particular walk. And dog walkers shouldn't be expected to have to do that either.

I clean up after my dogs all the time....my point is more bins are required especially in recreational areas!

pilly

sillysmiles wrote: »

Grew up on a dairy farm. Honestly it wouldn't bother me. I wouldn't sit now to a plate of it, but if it was your hands I wouldn't have to go and wash straight away as I would with dog poo. I see horse and cow **** in the same catagory.

So why is everyone so terrified by dog poo? What makes it so much more toxic? I don't buy the fact that they eat meat.

I don't mean that to sound rude, I'm learning a lot here, just think maybe there's an over-reaction to dog poo sometimes.

.......

This post has been deleted.

granturismo

pilly wrote: »

So why is everyone so terrified by dog poo? What makes it so much more toxic? I don't buy the fact that they eat meat.

I don't mean that to sound rude, I'm learning a lot here, just think maybe there's an over-reaction to dog poo sometimes.

Our microbial gut flora is determined by what we eat.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2649005/

Look up toxocariasis

Chuchote

loyatemu wrote: »

this makes a lot more sense than putting it in plastic and adding it to the waste cycle.

The plastic dog poo bags are made of biodegradable stuff.

+1 for horse and cow poo being ok. I used to drive to Stepaside to buy two-year-old horse manure for the garden; one day I stood on the brakes and two or three of the six bags opened up and joined me in the front of the car. No strong smell, and when I got home it was just a question of brushing the car out, not a stain left, and a day with the windows open aired it out.

In Dublin in the old days when horses and carts went by, everyone would rush out with dustpan and brush to capture the manure for their roses!

Sam Kade

Ashbx wrote: »

I cant speak for New Forest in England or rural Ireland, but the amount of bins in Dublin is ridiculously low....especially in the likes of parks/mountains etc....where people generally walk their dogs.

Just as an example, in my local park in Dublin there are 9 ways to enter this park and only ONE of these entrances has a bin (which is usually full). The other bin is located in the playground, somewhere a dog walker is not allowed go into. Im hardly going to ask a child to dispose of my poo bag! There's been a handful of times that in this park I have had to leave my bag ontop of the bin....I have had no other choice. So the County Council seriously need to consider installing more bins in public areas.

I saw the article you are referring to and by no means would I ever through it into a private field. I would use the stick and flick approach that someone else mentioned here!

When all else fails blame someone else :rolleyes: How about taking it home with you and putting it in your bin, it isn't rocket science.

Ms2011

Actually horse poo is not as benign as you'd think.
I'd a family member treated for giardia believed to have been pick up while gardening land horses had been grazed on & it's not a fun parasite to have to deal with

sillysmiles

Sam Kade wrote: »

When all else fails blame someone else....

There is something to be said for expecting a certain level of public services and bins do seem like a fairly reasonable thing to expect.

Mickeroo

....... wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

The OH's family's dog loves cow pats, he'd eat them all day if you let him off :pac:

Someone's been letting their dog **** on our front lawn and leaving it there the last few weeks, in an estate where lots of kids play outside. Pretty sure it's not a stray as it only seems to happen once a week or so. It's infuriating.

quadrifoglio verde

This boils my piss. Why on earth would someone go to the effort of picking it up and putting it into a bag, to only leave the bag there.
Or worse, hang it on a tree.

You'd have been better just leaving it there, at least it would be gone after a day or two.

I wouldn't mind but where I see it most, there's a number of poo bins around.

pilly

Mickeroo wrote: »

The OH's family's dog loves cow pats, he'd eat them all day if you let him off :pac:

Someone's been letting their dog **** on our front lawn and leaving it there the last few weeks, in an estate where lots of kids play outside. Pretty sure it's not a stray as it only seems to happen once a week or so. It's infuriating.

Are you sure it's not a horse or cow that's doing it in your garden.

Triangle

Mickeroo wrote: »

The OH's family's dog loves cow pats, he'd eat them all day if you let him off :pac:

Someone's been letting their dog **** on our front lawn and leaving it there the last few weeks, in an estate where lots of kids play outside. Pretty sure it's not a stray as it only seems to happen once a week or so. It's infuriating.

+1, a neighbour of ours allowed her dog to do the same in our front. No matter how many times we brought it up. Some have absolutely no regards for others.
I've trained mine to stay out of others gardens on my walks, not a big thing to do tbh.

razorblunt

There's a special place in hell for people that hang it off of trees. It's like Xmas on some walks.

In rural Scotland, they have the stick and flick rule too.
On other walks where I'm doing a loop I'll "plank" it somewhere and grab it on the way back if it happens to be too far away from a bin.

razorblunt

Triangle wrote: »

+1, a neighbour of ours allowed her dog to do the same in our front. No matter how many times we brought it up. Some have absolutely no regards for others.
I've trained mine to stay out of others gardens on my walks, not a big thing to do tbh.

I wouldn't hesitate for a second to pick it up and put it in front of her door if she didn't want to come and clean it up.

Someone has taken to letting their dog poo outside our door, I've never caught them, but I have a fair idea of who it is.

Tombo2001

Its a danger to a lot more than just horses.

Saw a dog poopoo bag left on a park bench this morning.

Really ........just so disgusting.

Tombo2001

The funny thing about the dog poo bag, and dogs in general....

Is that there is plenty of dog crap on the streets; and plenty of bags of dog poo - but I rarely see an owner actually leave it behind.

Which says two things
(I) Most dog owners are responsible - and I think this has to be acknowledged.
(II) There is an element of subterfuge. While no one is looking, I will just throw it here. Similarly with dog poo.....bring the dog out for a quick walk at 11.30pm - who will notice.

.......

This post has been deleted.