'Get your sh*t together': Controversy over council's campaign on dog fouling

'I think it’s encouraging children to curse. This is going to be put up on bus shelters, parks — I don’t think it’s appropriate,' says Sinn Féin's Michelle Gould

Ms Gould said: 'Dog fouling is an issue. It was one of the top five complaints when I was canvassing, and we need to be educating but also providing more bins in local communities.' Picture: iStock

Cork City Council is preparing to roll out posters urging dog owners to clean up after their pets, using a provocative slogan: “Get your sh*t together.” 

A draft design shows the letters "s" and "h", followed by a graphic of a dog defecating in place of the letter "i", and then the letter "t".

The new slogan was approved by four of the dog fouling committee’s five members present; Fine Gael’s Joe Kavanagh, the chair, the Green Party’s Dan Boyle and Oliver Moran, and Fianna Fáil’s Margaret McDonnell.

Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gould said she was the only committee member to vote against it.

 “I think it’s encouraging children to curse. This is going to be put up on bus shelters, parks — I don’t think it’s appropriate," she said.

“I think it’s fair for people to say Cork City Council needs to get its sh*t together. Dog fouling is an issue. It was one of the top five complaints when I was canvassing, and we need to be educating but also providing more bins in local communities — that’s the road we should be going down, not [putting up] shock posters.” 

Raise awareness

Mr Kavanagh said the postering campaign was about “increasing public awareness of the dangers of dog fouling in public areas”.

A city council spokesperson said the campaign would be formally launched soon, adding: “Dog fouling is a serious public nuisance and a health risk."

“Securing a prosecution against dog owners for the offence of dog fouling is very difficult, so we need to encourage behavioural change. The aim of this campaign isn’t to shock, it’s to grab people’s attention in an effort to trigger that.

“We hope any debate around this campaign will prompt a discussion around responsible pet ownership and lead to a decrease in dog fouling.”