DOG owners that use the Bowerhill Sports Field are being encouraged to clean up after their pet.
According to Melksham Without Parish Council, the darker evenings have resulted in a rise of dog owners failing to pick up dog poo.
They say, “The evenings are dark now, the clocks have changed and unfortunately, and predictably, the amount of dog mess on the Bowerhill Sports Field has sufficiently increased.
“Please, please pick up your dog mess, bag it and put it in the bin. There are bins on every exit to the playing field, on the pavilion veranda and in the car park. There is no excuse.
“This is where children and adults play football, undertake personal training, stretch their legs during the working day.”
A spokesperson for Future of Football, which hosts football sessions for children on the sports field, adds, “We have been left very frustrated with some dog owners as they have felt that it is necessary to leave their dog poo on the playing fields.
“We have our players playing every weekend and for games to be stopped during or when we are setting up in the morning to find dog poo it is very disappointing.”
Highlighting the health hazards to humans – especially children – caused by dog faeces, the parish council continues, “Dog fouling can be a health risk. Dogs may deposit roundworm eggs (toxocara canis) in their faeces, which become infectious after about three weeks, and can remain so for up to two years.
“Anyone, but particularly children playing near to the ground, can run the risk of picking up and swallowing the eggs. The eggs then hatch in the intestine, burrow through the intestine wall into the blood stream and pass into the body.
“Possible symptoms of toxocaral infection range from aches, dizziness and nausea to asthma and pneumonia. In rare cases eye disease and loss of vision can be caused when the toxocara larva passes through the eye.
“9 out of 10 dog owners pick up their dog mess – are you the one that doesn’t?”
