We may be a nation of dog lovers, but with a population of 8 million dogs in the UK, unwanted dog mess in public places is a huge issue. Dog fouling is seen as one of the biggest nuisances blighting public places in the UK. It's reported more than littering, pollution, traffic and smoking, with local authorities in the UK receiving over 81,000 complaints about dog mess last year alone.
To draw further awareness to this issue, and perhaps find some nomadic pups a loving home in the process, the Dogs Trust rehoming charity and their agency TMW Unlimited have created the “Big Scoop” campaign, which is an initiative aimed at encouraging everyone to pick up after their dogs. The campaign has provided eight areas in the UK with attention grabbing installations including poo bag dispensers, bench wraps and boards, posters and bin stickers that feature “Love lines” from dogs to dog owners. The installations can currently be found in Croydon, Fenland, Newcastle, Lisburn, Cornwall, Hastings, Flintshire and Fife, but if the campaign proves successful, they could be popping up all over the country by the end of the year.
The aim of the campaign, which also includes posters and online work from TMW Unlimited, is to not only to generate awareness of the issues about dog fouling, but to encourage dog owners to dispose of their pooch’s poop and stress that dog mess can be placed in any public bin, not just the specific dog mess bins. So, if you are a dog owner yourself, show your dog that you love them and pick up their poo. 86% of dog owners are happy to scoop, but the 14% minority are still causing a problem.
