A town centre pet shop in Burnham-On-Sea has this week given its backing to a new community group in the town which aims to tackle dog fouling.
The Pet Shop on Burnham-On-Sea High Street is supporting Burnham Pooper Troopers, whom we recently featured here.
Sarah, the owner of the pet shop, is going to supply pooper scooping strong and sturdy bags, so the group can hand them out to dog owners when out on their beach patrols. She is also donating free scoopers to the group.
The Burnham Pooper Troopers are a group of local residents including dog owners, dog trainers and vets that have volunteered their time and energy to take action on dog fouling to help improve Burnham’s bathing waters.
They also hope to help keep Burnham-On-Sea’s beaches clean for everyone to enjoy.
The group – which has its own slogan of “If your dog poops, clear it up. ‘Coz we don’t want to pick it up!” – wants to encourage dog owners to take responsibility and pick up after their dog.
Litter Free Coast and Sea Somerset is helping to co-ordinate the group and is currently applying for funding in order to buy branded tabards and other resources, so the group can be recognisable when they are conducting their weekly patrols.
The patrols will include the group handing out free poo bags, promoting responsible dog ownership and helping to spread the word about the importance of picking up after your dog.
The pilot patrols will kick off after a ‘Big Poop Scoop’, which will provide a good starting platform. It will take place after funding has been secured.
“As a local dog training instructor, promoting responsible dog ownership is at the very height of my agenda, along with serving my community. I am forever hearing about the local dog fouling problem and now I can finally help do something about it. I’m quite excited actually,” said Carrie-Ann New of Tricky Paws.
“We have seen so much dog mess left about, we feel enough is enough!” added local dog owners, Peter and Elaine Stanbridge.
Local resident Philip Sharp said: “I was tired of seeing dog poo bags hanging in trees and hedgerows near my house. I want to start helping to educate people that this behaviour isn’t good enough and it needs to be sorted. I want clean and safe seas that people want to swim in.”
If you want to join the Burnham Pooper Troopers or to support them, get in contact via Facebook here.
