Moffat dog mess campaign off to a good start
26 dispensers were originally made, and now another nine will be added.
The Moffat community is to be armed with 35 poo bag dispensers after a huge demand for more when the original lot were first scattered across the town.
This is all part of a new campaign to keep public pathways clean and to encourage people to pick up after their dogs.
The public and the local Men’s Shed are actively collaborating to aid this campaign by donating materials, building them, and putting the posts in the ground to attach the dispensers to.
82-year-old Roy Anderton-Tyers, or more commonly known as Uncle Roy, is the man behind the idea.
He hopes this will make a difference: “They do take forward prosecutions for people who don’t pick up their dog’s mess, so what we’re trying to do is just encourage more dog mess picking up by supplying free poo bags, or at least the dispensers.”
To keep them stocked up, he is asking people to pop any spares into the dispensers for others to use.
To Anderton-Tyers' surprise, there have been several requests for more.
“We’ve got 26 of them around the town, and it has prompted a lot of interest and awareness, which is the important thing.
“We are now doing another nine, so we’ll have 35 of these dispensers scattered around the town – obviously, mainly in the areas where people walk their dogs, but also in the town centre so that our visitors will get the message too.
“Dispensers themselves make a presence and raise awareness, and that’s what’s so important!
“Most dog owners do pick up, but there are a few who don’t, so anything that raises awareness and encourages people to do the right thing and keep our town nice and clean and happy looking, I think, is a good thing!”