Muck seems to be all too common... (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Muck seems to be all too common...

8:32am Friday 22nd January 2010 in

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Last Sunday, I took the kids for a walk along a country path near where we live, which joins on to the Calder-Aire Link and provides a great resource whether you just want a little stroll or are one of these mad people who thinks walking from one end of the country to the other is a viable pastime.

It would be a great resource, apart from the steaming piles of dog poo that dotted the route.

The snow and ice that was lingering at the weekend, while treacherous underfoot, did at least serve to highlight the piles of plop in shades ranging from unhealthy grey to vivid browns.

I’m not just talking one or two parcels of poop. I’m talking dozens, which made walking along the path an utter misery, especially when you’re trying to marshal two small children who have an unerring in-built radar to direct their feet towards anything unpleasant.

The problem isn’t just confined to the country roads near where we live, either. The main street is regularly paid a visit by the muck fairy, especially on the main sections of pavement near the school, which is always a delight.

Aside from the fact that dog poo carries horrendous germs that can make children go blind and stuff, have you ever had the misfortune to tread in it?

Like a fine wine, dog poo matures with age. What you might not even notice when you’ve first stepped in it will, overnight, develop on the bottom of your boot into a God-awful stench that permeates the entire house and can’t be got rid of unless you get in the sort of professionals who are used to fumigating houses.

When I was a kid, we had white dog poo, which I was once told was because dogs used to eat bones from butchers more than they do now, thus having more calcium in their diet, which is why you don’t see it much.

The advantage of white dog poo was that it was pretty hard stuff, so if you did stand on it, it didn’t cause as much damage, and it was easier to get rid of.

These gently-steaming pancakes of horror that abound now must be due to people stuffing their animals with cheap dog food.

It presumably also makes it tougher to pick up. Dog owners are, as far as I understand it, supposed to carry plastic bags with them and scoop the poop. It’s a bit more difficult to do that, I suppose, if the poop looks more like chip shop curry.

But that’s besides the point. As the old saying goes, I don’t blame the dogs, I blame the owners. And, no, it isn’t actually the owners who are dropping their trousers and letting one loose on the pavement.

But if they are going to accept the joy and pleasure of owning a pet, they must also take the responsibility. And if that means rolling up their sleeves and scooping up the poop, then them’s the breaks.