Norton residents crying foul about dog mess (From Gazette & Herald)
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Norton residents crying foul about dog mess
11:24am Wednesday 18th July 2012 in News By Karen Darley
Some of the youngsters affected by dog mess in the snicket off Lakeside in Norton, with, from left, councillors Di Keal and Hugh Spencer and resident James Urquhart
DOG owners are being urged to clean up after their pets following concerns over the amount of fouling left on the pavements in Norton .
The town council has received a number of comments from local people expressing concern over the mess and the potential health hazard it creates.
One resident, James Urquhart, said the problem had got steadily worse, particularly effecting the routes to and from the primary and secondary schools.
“It really has got quite dreadful and is very unpleasant for young children walking to school and mums with pushchairs,” he said.
“Although the problems effect the paths to school, it is increasingly an issue across town and I know other people are complaining about it.”
Mr Urquhart said that while the majority of dog owners cleaned up after their pets a persistent few continued to break the law.
“In some of these areas there is little street lighting as well which makes the situation worse as you can’t see where you are walking,” he said.
“I’ve often had to clean off my shoes when I get in – it really is foul and disgusting.”
Town councillor Hugh Spencer said it seemed to be becoming a bigger problem in Norton.
“One of the issues is that there is only one dog warden to cover the whole of Ryedale but it certainly seems to appear that the problem is worse in urban areas,” he said.
Coun Spencer said he had spoken to community police officers who said the problem was catching dog owners.
“It does seem to be a hardcore minority who are persisting in letting their dogs foul and we are determined to take effective action to deal with it,” he said.
Norton mayor Coun Di Keal said they would be contacting Ryedale District Council to suggest the dog warden targeted areas where there seemed to be a greater problem.
“There are parts of Norton where this is worse than others so it would make sense to patrol those areas,” she said.
“At the moment the snickets which school children use along with many mums with pushchairs are not pleasant and part of being a responsible dog owner is clearing up after your pet.”
Insp Andy Everitt, of Malton Police, said they were happy to work with members of the public to catch offenders.
