Letter: Why can't people clear up after their pet dogs?

Letter: Having recently been diagnosed diabetic, I decided to take up walking to improve my health.

I started to walk around the Heritage Site Battlefield in Shrewsbury but soon discovered the pathways were littered with dog mess.

The surrounding landscape is beautiful but I could not take it in because I had to constantly look down at the pathway to dodge the dog mess.

I also noted many dog owners with their dogs off their leads walking the same walk as me. Several owners had more than one dog.

Why are these owners bringing their dogs to walk around the heritage site?

The only conclusion I came up with is that they use the walk as a "dog toilet".

I did not see any signs on the walk to instruct the owners to clear up their dog mess except one halfway round which also had a dog toilet disposal bin. This message was clearly not getting through.

I decided to change my walk and started to go to Haughmond Hill. To my amazement, the dog mess on this walk was worse than the heritage site.

Why do we have to endure this irresponsible filth when all we simply want is to enjoy a walk in the countryside? It is not the dogs who we blame but the owners who, for reasons known only to them, want a dog but are not prepared to clean up their mess causing a disgusting and health hazard mess.

How can a family with small children enjoy a walk at these sites? What enjoyment is there when dog mess is all over the walk festering with flies and smells?

I cannot offer an answer to this problem without it costing taxpayers a lot of money but I can, via this letter, make a plea to all owners to be more responsible when taking pets for a walk and to consider other people when their dogs make a mess. Clear it up.

D Rogers

Shrewsbury