Do you feel the level of dog dirt on our Uk streets has increased post pandemic?
Posted by WearingMarcus@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 75 comments
One of the biggest improvements to say the nineties and early 2000s was dog dirt, it almost became non existent (like Burnt out cars, Rare you see them nowadays compared to the 90s and noughties).
But lately my area is full of dog dirt.
Now I am a small sample size, has your area been impacted with increased levels of dog dirt poor etiquette, or is my area an isolated incident of one person(s) letting the area down?
FizzbuzzAvabanana@reddit
Can't remember the last time I saw a dog turd on the path or in the street.
Perhaps it's just a reflection of the area in which you live as whole?
RoyTheWig@reddit
I'm in Manchester and there is so much dog poo on the ground. And theres areas that reek of dog urine when it gets warm. Delightful.
NoSuggestion2681@reddit
I remember overhearing an American complaining that the whole of Manchester reeked of urine when it got hot; compared it to a medieval city.
cbawiththismalarky@reddit
Yeah where I live this is very rare, as is lots of litter
TheAmazingSealo@reddit
Maybe. I live in Swindon and it's worse in alleyways, footpaths/cyclelanes and public fields. Less so on pavements and streets, but I do still see it.
My wife saw a a 'big chav dickhead' not pick up his big dogs' big shit so called after him a few times 'Are you going to pick that up?' and eventually he turned around and shouted 'OH FUCK OFF' at her so that goes some way to explain it - some people feel entitled to let their dog shit everywhere and not pick it up. If they're doing this daily on their dogs walk then that's a lot of shit that piles up. You only need 2-3 dickheads living near you and you have a big problem. Lack of enforcement goes some way to help with that. Like there are signs saying you can be fined up to £1000 but I doubt anyone is actually getting fined.
From what I've seen, the pavement shit is usually small dog owners who walk their dogs early in the morning. They think that because it's a small shit, they can get away with not picking up, and because it's early, nobody is watching.
I would support people having their dogs taken away if they are caught not picking up shit. I am a dog owner myself and I'd never even consider leaving it for someone else to deal with.
Dr-Werner-Klopek@reddit
I live in a seaside town. I wouldn’t say the town is rough or deprived. Sure some areas are a little rougher. But I see dog mess a lot, promenade, very nice leafy streets, high street. It’s not really about the place, it’s about people, lazy, selfish and shameless people.
CasualGlam87@reddit
Same, I'm in a seaside town on the south coast and dog mess is everywhere. I probably see more of it in the nicer parts of town than the rougher areas. Part of it is that a lot of the dog poo bins around the town have been removed, but it's also just plain laziness.
FizzbuzzAvabanana@reddit
Lazy visitors disrespecting your town sounds like the problem. Pack the kids, dog & the picnic but forget the bags.
Asleep-Software-4160@reddit
It is, pretty much. It's pretty rare to see it where I live, and there must be a dog in at least every other house on my street. But some streets are constantly covered. Grim.
ExultentPisces@reddit
Can’t say I’ve noticed if there is.
What I have noticed is that (presumably) due to spending cuts, bins in dog walking areas are regularly piled high with dog shit in plastic bags. Often to the extent that the bin overflows and there are piles of shit bags around the bin too.
I get cleaning up after a dog does its business. But whose idea was it to do so with plastic bags? That seems to be disastrous for the environment.
fluffy_samoyed@reddit
Very little of the bags are plastic, they're majority cornstarch and other biodegradable materials.
xwell320@reddit
My favourite is the bag filled with shit that they took the effort to bag, but still left behind/tied to a fence or tree. Actual scum. 'I'll get it on the way back home' - sure you will.
ArtisticWatch@reddit
My area just keeps get more and more houses.
More houses = more people.
Many people don't give a shit about others and allow their dog to shit all over the place. We have a sports field that's open to the public and we need to constantly pick up dog shit before training or matches.
Theres nobody to police it either.
Puzzled-Job9556@reddit
I'll get banned if I say what I would like to about people who don't pick up their dog's mess.
DevilishlyHandsome63@reddit
Yes there's masses of it where I live,and owners just let their dogs do their business wherever,and don't clean up after them. It doesn't matter to them if there's people around, they have no shame.
MrBread0451@reddit
Kinda unrelated but this morning when I was sleeping in until 7AM I heard an old couple gossiping with each other and they mentioned "What astonishes me is the amount of people that are... ONLY JUST walking their dogs, I mean..." which is hilarious to me because it sums up that effect of everyone thinking they're the ones NOT being the judgemental assholes in every situation
Able_Resident_1291@reddit
Most societal declines like this -- not cleaning up after pets, running red lights and zebra crossings, watching videos in public without headphones etc. -- I'm chalking up to "algorithmically-driven social media is turning adults feral"
Rosetti@reddit
Huh? How is social media causing people to not pick up their dog's poop? Is there some poop drop challenge going round or something?
I swear redditors will blame any possible problem on social media.
Transasaurus-Hex@reddit
There is a direct link between social media use and harmful behaviour, of which one is anti-social behaviour.
kyles45065@reddit
I only skim read it but the study you linked doesn’t look to have determined causality, and caveats the difficulty in data gathering from personal recall. There may indeed be causality, and I’m sure there are other studies out there which are better. But based on that link alone, it can’t be said social media is causing people to not pick up dog poo
thelouisfanclub@reddit
yeah having poor impulse control in the first place leads to a lot of things
Tirno93@reddit
Ours has quite a strong weather link - you see a lot more about when it’s been raining. My guess is a certain kind of dog walker a) doesn’t want to stop in the rain and b) thinks it’ll just wash away
Full-Suggestion-1320@reddit
I haven't seen an increase in dog mess. I have seen an increase in a lack of dog walking etiquette.
Allowing your off lead dog to run up to other people, on lead dogs or just letting them run around dominating a space whilst the owners stand and chat. Having dogs on extendable leads particularly by the road, The general effort put into dog training appears to be less, whilst there has been an increase in "fashionable" breeds.
AvocadosAtLaw95@reddit
As a dog owner, nothing infuriates me more than dog owners walking their dogs in urban areas off the lead. I don’t care how good and well trained you think your dog is, it doesn’t take much for it to get distracted and possibly run into the road.
I was driving home from work along a busy town A-road the other week and some silly bint had her dog out ahead with no lead on. It makes me so bloody nervous.
insertitherenow@reddit
I’ve not seen any left about for ages.
Agent_-Ant-_@reddit
It's getting bad in my town. A few years back people started complaining the dog mess bins were always overflowing so they came and removed them. Great solution.
Sad_Cardiologist5388@reddit
Its the deterioration of the social contract, people seem less likely to do things for the benefit of others and their environment. Same with littering and antisocial behaviour.
Theres so much dog crap near my sons school its almost as if people come from miles around to fill the pavements.
Fellowes321@reddit
I thought so but the doorcam suggests cats and foxes are the main culprits near me.
Either_Sense_4387@reddit
Came here to say this! In built up areas it's probably foxes rather than dogs. Defs the case where I am in a London suburb.
Fellowes321@reddit
There seems to be some idea that cats are clean. The fact is that if you don’t give them somewhere to shit in your garden, they do it in your neighbours garden or driveway, footpaths or pavement.
Being semi-rural, we get the odd deer passing through too.
Either_Sense_4387@reddit
Oh definitely agree with cats, too! I find enough cat poo in my flowerbeds (when we don't have a cat!) to know they don't discriminate on where they go! 😂
Would be gorgeous to see deer just trotting around outside my living room! ❤️
Fellowes321@reddit
Do you remember years ago (about 2000) when there was closure of some country parks because of foot and mouth? I came home one snowy evening and was surrounded by deer which had wandered out of the park. I sat in the car for ages until they wandered on.
Either_Sense_4387@reddit
I do remember (in particular how horrible it was and that grease was literally falling in the rain from burning all the cattle 😞) - that sounds gorgeous though! Especially in the snow! 🥰 I suppose you didn't manage a picture as it was pre-smartphone days, but must be a wonderful memory!
Fellowes321@reddit
No smartphone. Just the indestructible Nokia at the time.
I remember wondering whether I would ever be able to leave the car because I didn’t want to spook them into running randomly all over the place if I got out. It’s about 20 m between the car and the front door.
nhilistic_daydreamer@reddit
I’ve never heard the term ‘dog dirt’ before.
RiceeeChrispies@reddit
bring back white dog shit so you can spot it more easily
MasterpieceAlone8552@reddit
So much tastier too
ZanzibarGuy@reddit
They deshittified dog food in the 80s, so it's just a matter of time before they go back and enshittify it to make a few more pennies in profit. I assume bonemeal is cheap (excessive calcium in the diet is the main reason for white turds).
FreeBogwoppits@reddit
Yes. I walk a lot and it's turds everywhere. I often see dogs squatting ahead of me on the street, shitting, the owner looking around to see if anyone saw, then hurrying off. If I'm close enough I do shout "Oi, you forgot your dog turds". They either ignore me or feign ignorance.
I'm noticing more and more houses have cute little homemade signs on their front garden walls saying things like "We love all doggies, they need to roam, but please be kind and take their poopies home".
Sad to say there's a vocal group of dog nutters on the local FB group who strongly argue dog shit should be left on the pavement (and kids' playing fields) as it's 'environmentally friendly'.
mcmanus2099@reddit
The councils used to use arbitrary surveillance powers to prevent it. They would wait by hot spots and get mobile van filming of areas to try and catch ppl so they can fine them. However there was a big case just before COVID where they were told to stop doing this. That the powers they were using wasn't proportional to the offense
ChrisRR@reddit
Nope, not noticed a difference
Petrichor_ness@reddit
Yup! I've called a few people out over the years for it, here's some of the more common responses I've had back:
MJ-Franklin@reddit
My area is pretty rural so it's constantly horse shit all over the pavement instead. Fuck people that say "oh but it's horse shit they can't pick it up it's not doing any damage"... it's there constantly fuck off.
Fel_Eclipse@reddit
The shop in 600m from my house. I mapped 48 dog turds between here and there, giving an average of 1 every 12.5m. There are two schools along this stretch and it gets smeared everywhere. Some people just don't care at all and they disgust me.
In autumn when there are leaves on the pavement its better to just drive.
Yes, it has definitely gotten worse.
OptionalQuality789@reddit
I thought it was bad in Edinburgh, but after having spent a week in Yorkshire, around Harrogate and Otley, holy shit the amount of dog turds on trails and walking paths was insane. Every 10 metres.
AverageThat5267@reddit
It is not just dog dirt, daily there are posts about different things, like peoples manners, rude customers, people playing their phones on public transport, I feel being isolated from society during the Coronavirus pandemic and people glued to social media has made some people forget how to act within society as a whole
TheAmazingSealo@reddit
You mean dog shit? Yeah, it's fucking everywhere.
PetersMapProject@reddit
I don't think I've seen any particular increase.
But the dog population has increased by around 50% since lockdown, so that alone could cause an impact.
That said, dog muck tends to stick around for a while. All it really takes is for one mucky bugger to never pick up and you'll see a noticeable increase, especially if they're using the same routes daily.
I do also have a theory that quite a bit of the "dog poo" is actually fox poo - especially in urban parks. A lot of people seem convinced that they can reliably tell the difference between dog poo and fox poo. Reality is that fox poo changes a lot based on diet and season - and it's often visually identical to dog poo. Yes, sometimes they'll eat berries and have very dark poo, but that only happens in late summer and autumn for obvious reasons.
PingouinFluffy@reddit
No, not particularly. People round here are responsible and pick it up. We have dog poo bins - loads of them. Dogs are generally on leads too, or quickly put on a lead when another dog/person comes by.
thanks_akka@reddit
Where I am, no more than I saw pre pandemic. So almost never save for the rare occasion. There's a fair number of dog owners in my area but they seem to take good care of their dogs.
Upset-Elderberry3723@reddit
Dogs have increased due to the pandemic.
Personally, I don't understand it. 90% of the people with dogs look like they couldn't restrain them if they got angry at someone.
Watchkeys@reddit
99%? Haha
Upset-Elderberry3723@reddit
It's probably more than that. Dogs are harder to contain than people think.
Watchkeys@reddit
That's right.
dbxp@reddit
I very rarely see it where I am and there's plenty of dogs
LolaWithTheGreenEyes@reddit
Yes. And dogs off leads jumping up at people.
LegendaryTJC@reddit
Not where I live. The town and all the dog parks are pretty clean, plenty of bins etc.
TapWaterDev@reddit
Haven't seen a dog shit on the street in ages... I've seen an increase in human shit on the street though
Geepandjagger@reddit
I was just saying to my wife this morning how noticeably better our area is than 10+ years ago
KeyJunket1175@reddit
In the UK people can't be bothered to NOT just drop their can/bottle/food wrap wherever they are done with it, and love leaving trains like a mess. Do you really expect a society with such levels of intelligence to pick up the poo after their dog? I am just happy people aren't yet actively defecating on the street.
Difficult_Style207@reddit
I do litterpicking and there's white poo, like the 80s before we asked dog owners to be polite.
t8ne@reddit
The people who leave it on the streets will only chuck the bag into the tree if they’re forced to pick it up, where you get to watch it slowly decompose over the next few years…
wedontneednoeduc@reddit
Like most things I'd suggest it's one where your location and your own perception is the massive factor.
In a nice area you'll see residents taking care of all sorts of little things like litter themselves, then go somewhere else and rubbish is left even in people's own front gardens. Cleaning up after a dog is similar.
WearingMarcus@reddit (OP)
true
Party_Advantage_3733@reddit
Huge amount of horse poop where I live, lots of 'travelling' folk in their not so mobile homes I guess.
Lanthanidedeposit@reddit
Yes, and it even comes packaged sometimes.
On a related note - has anyone noticed the return of white dogshit?
YorkshireMary@reddit
No, but I pick it up on my street if I see any. I've had dogs for years, so it doesn't faze me.
ChelseaMourning@reddit
I’ve seen a number of people on their phones, not paying attention to their dog while it shits unattended. I imagine that’s probably a big cause of the rise in more poo on the streets. Still haven’t seen a good old fashioned white dog dirt since since the 90s though.
JustAnotherFEDev@reddit
They know it's shitting. They just want us to think they don't know. There's a park near me, I walk through it to visit my mum, I see them doing that very thing, all the time, they know what's going on. Fucking tramps
segundovolante7@reddit
I did step in it yesterday so maybe 😞
DescentNext@reddit
Nope, not really.
AirlineSevere7456@reddit
Not in my area. But I think people are more lax in general picking up.
GregoryTec@reddit
Yes it's everywhere and the people leaving it have zero shame.
But then again our council are running some form of rotation on which areas receive funding so we're not due a street sweeper or jet wash until 2030 or some nonsense.
MangoonianLord@reddit
Yes. I've seen a lot more dogs in my area since Covid ended and there are a lot of irresponsible owners not cleaning up their mess.
There's also a reduction in street cleaners as the council have tried to save money which adds to the problem.
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