Woman wages street campaign over dog poo

A dog owner who has begun a one-woman campaign to rid the streets of dog poo, says she is prepared to give evidence in court against people who don’t pick up after their animal.

Julie Feely from Drogheda, Co Louth, said what is being allowed to happen “just disgusting”.

“People don’t seem to realise the huge risks to their health, especially their eyesight, from it not being binned straight away.”

She has got the support of mother-of-three Nadine Nash, 34, who lost the sight in one eye after contracting an infection caused by the parasite toxocariasis.

Toxocariasis is found in animal faeces and is caused by the eggs of the roundworm toxocara. These can be passed from dogs to humans through contact with animal faeces and contaminated soil.

Nadine, who lives in England, explains: “This parasite, when ingested, can cause irreversible and sudden sight loss.”

The streets are widely littered with dog poop and Julie is gobsmacked at the way people walk away after their dog has done its business.”

The 49-year-old always picks up after her dog Jessie and was spurred into starting her campaign just 10 weeks ago after being wrongly accused of not cleaning up.

“I am responsible and always clean up. That day as I walked Jessie I passed by a mum who was pushing a child in a buggy and had two others walking with her. The footpath was covered in poo and she mumbled that it was people like me walking dogs that had the footpaths in such a state.

“Well I said to her that I always picked up. I know there are thousands of dog owners in Ireland who do not pick up and they have got to start. This is a national problem and it has a really big health risk.

“Since I began asking people to let me know about dog owners who do not pick up after their pets I have been run off my feet.”

She is kept busy updating her Facebook page ‘Keep our streets clean of dog fouling’, and meeting with council officials to increase the number of dog poo bins and ensure they are emptied frequently.

Julie is so passionate about her campaign that she is prepared to give evidence in court to help penalise people for not picking up and breaking the bye-laws.

She is even considering standing in the next local elections to ensure the council keeps on top of the problem.

“I have confronted people and told them to go back and pick it up. Often it turns out they have a bag in their pocket all along. They just didn’t want to do it. Then they try and dump it and not have to bring it home with them. It is unreal and really disgusting what goes on.

“This is the year of the Gathering and we want more people to visit Ireland. Well we would want to clean our streets first or they may have a life full of dreadful memories of their time here and nobody wants that.”

Children are particularly at risk.

Nadine has given her support to Julie: “There is no excuse for not picking up after your dog. The consequences of catching this infection in the park at the age of just 4 have been life-changing and devastating for me,” she added.