DERRY JOURNAL Editorial: Dog owners need to clean up their act

Children are more at risk as they are more likely to pick up and eat the eggs or larvae of the roundworms and hookworms that live in dog faeces.

The illnesses these organisms can cause range from skin infection, through diarrhoea, cramp, fever and abdominal pain, to, in rare instances, blindness.

Derry City & Strabane District Council is so concerned about the issue that it is conducting a high profile campaign to clamp down on what the Mayor Brian Tierney has described as a small minority of irresponsible owners that just will not clean up after their dogs.

Last year one of the unanticipated consequences of the lockdown was that the council’s environment section reported a 70 per cent upsurge from 50 to 85 tonnes in the amount of dog waste collected from municipal bins.

It appears the increased volume of people enjoying the city’s parks and greenways was reflected in a 35 tonne hike in the volume of nitrogen-rich manure lifted from waste deposit stations. This, of course, was the system working as it should.

Yet it begs the question: was there equally a 70 per cent increase in the level of dog sludge fouling up the city pavements? We don’t know for sure but the anecdotal evidence suggests it’s as much a problem now as it ever was.

While rare toxocariasis can, in severe instances, cause blindness. Former mayor Michaela Boyle is living testament to this and has spoken powerfully about losing her sight through infection from dog faeces as a child.

Given the seriousness of the issue and the greater degree of awareness around zoonotic disease the coronavirus pandemic has engendered it is incredible the penny still hasn’t dropped for some.

Do they believe it acceptable to make a pig sty of the city, to force children, the elderly, wheelchair users and young families with prams to run the gauntlet of disease spreading worms, eggs and larvae every time they leave the house? It’s high time this recklessness became as taboo as smoking indoors or drink driving.