Bohemia Village Voice

Letter to the Editor from Mark Curry (Feb 2011)

The stretch of road from London Road, past the primary school to Southwater Road must win the award of Bohemia’s foulest street. Dog mess every metre or so and directly outside our local primary school. Do we have the most selfish dog owners of the town? Clearly. Something must be done, but what? My vote is for DSTV to catch the culprits, then they can be identified and neutered – once and for all.

Mark Curry, St Peters Road

Letter to the Editor from Sally Walton (Feb 2011)

Dear Editor, People walk their obviously large dogs around our block late at night. Most do not even think about picking up the crap and those that do, put it in bags then drop them in the gutter. That’s almost worse as nothing washes them away and you get to park on them. I have asked the council for a bin to help people do the right thing.

Guess what? Nothing happened. I love dogs but despair when I have to dodge steaming piles of crap on the pavement. Sadly, people who let their dogs foul our pavements will not be reading your lovely publication, they don’t care what we think or what their dogs leave behind.

Sally Walton, St Leonards

Letter to the Editor from Poo-bag Accessoriser (Feb 2011)

Dear Editor, As a child I was lucky enough to be a country kid, which made the family dogs even luckier as they had acres of land to amuse themselves in and secret “dog toilet” corners, I’m not sure that they even knew what a lead was therefore dog poop did not even feature on my agenda. Time has passed, we’re all grown up and not so enamoured with acres of grass (it needs mowing don’t you know) and said dogs have sadly passed away.

We have succumbed to the town way of life and my little pup has done the same, nowadays dog poop is a (twice) daily feature in my life and the humble poo bag is a necessity. The pup does not like to poop at home and would much rather wait until he has reached a communal area for his ablutions meaning that those little poo bags can be found in my handbag, my jeans, my coat pocket, the car, at work, pretty much everywhere, they are the ultimate dog owners accessory.

So, why is it do I feel sometimes like I am the only person with them? Picking up poop is not glamorous and sometimes it’s risky, (the pup’s new game is to poop up steep slopes or in flower beds) whilst looking at me as if to say “go on, get that one”! It makes me sad to see owners just walk away from steaming piles, especially in the centre of a footpath. You wouldn’t just leave your child’s dirty nappy in the middle of your hall would you?? I have been known to hand out spare bags to strangers whose dog has just defaced the pavement, to mixed reaction.

I have been told where to go and also thanked graciously (because everyone gets caught short once in a while). So, if you see a smug looking pup watching his owner clamber through flower beds, poo bag in hand, do spare a thought that not all dog owners are irresponsible, we do not all deserve to be tarnished with the same (dog)brush and a lot of us are just as disgusted about un-cleared dog poop as you.

Poo-bag Accessoriser, Hastings.