Beau Evans, who is in Year 6 at St Peter’s School, has written a letter to the editor of this newspaper calling for dog walkers to stay away from the school’s grounds because the mess is causing so much of a problem.
The ten-year-old said that the faeces not only spreads toxocariasis – a disease which can cause blindness and asthma – but also disrupts lesson time because teachers have to clean the mess up off the carpet, floor and pupils’ shoes.
Back in June the Island’s ten worst locations for dog poo were revealed:
- Havre des Pas
- Jardin dOlivet
- La Pouquelaye
- Noirmont Point
- Portelet Common
- Ouaisné Common
- Queens Valley reservoir
- Rue des Prés footpath
- St Ouens Bay dunes
- St Catherines Woods
Beau’s teacher, Janet Willis, said that all the children in her class had written about the issue as part of a project to write a letter using persuasive language.
And because the school have experienced ongoing issues with dog mess for more than a year, Mrs Willis thought the children’s views should be made public.
‘My whole class were writing a letter about the dog mess in our school,’ Beau said.
‘I would like people to show the letter to their friends and show people that it is not right to let your dog mess everywhere.
‘It is every day and it has been happening for a long time now. It is on the field and our playground and sometimes we stand in it and our reception class stands in it and they miss their break because the teachers have to clean it off their shoes.’
He also said that the nursery children at the school often mistake dog mess for soil and use it to make mud pies which the teachers then have to clean-up.
Mrs Willis said that the school had faced similar problems with dog mess four years ago before a campaign, supported by the JEP, put a stop to it. However, the problem has returned and has been happening for more than a year.
All 28 of the children’s letters will be circulated inside the St Peter’s parish magazine next month in an attempt to persuade Islanders to stop bringing their dogs inside the school’s grounds.
Letter to the Editor
From Beau Evans, Year 6 pupil
I THINK it’s wrong to leave dog faeces all over our school because it’s disgusting and quite smelly.
I think this because dog faeces can spread a disease called Toxocariasis. This disease can cause blindness and asthma.
This problem also interrupts lesson time because teachers have to clean it up off of the carpet and floor. It also gets on the nursery children’s shoes and teachers have to wash them, then the children miss their break time. Sometimes the nursery children play in their mud-pie kitchen outside and they make pies out of poop instead of mud. Sometimes they don’t even notice and it makes the teachers quite cross that dog owners could be so thoughtless.
Another reason that it makes us angry is the school is private property and people don’t have permission to let their dogs dump everywhere. How would you like it if your child stood in dog faeces at school? How would you like it if a dog came and pooped in your garden? If your house is private property so is our school.
A lot of other pupils and teachers are bothered about this reoccurring incident and are very shocked that it keeps happening. And I bet if I stood up on the stage in assembly and said: ‘We need to stop this!’ everybody would agree.
Other children in my class (Year 6) are writing about this too and we all have different reasons, but the same message – please do not bring dogs into St Peter’s School grounds.
St Peter’s School, St Peter.
Garden Lane all the way towards Rouge Bouillon school. Fed up of dodging it!
Sarah Perkins
Sand dunes are awful especially near the car park area. Certainly not a place to take the kids and the hounds!
Robyn Simpson
Perfect example of how a law does little to change the situation, it’s down to the community to police this issue. Have a word with dog owners when you see them not picking up their dogs poo.
Kate Le Texier
There should be a name and shame. Next time you see someone not picking up- take a picture – they get fined, you get a reward!
Jon Stasiak-Gray
I don’t think dog mess is a particular problem, it is part of nature and nature provides its own solutions. Why does the government think it can improve on nature?
Darius Pearce
No one ever mentions horse poop or other animal poop, I clean up after my two dogs and I totally agree about poop on pavements etc but would never take my dogs in town or on pavements it’s fields , beach when allowed or dunes
Nicola Crenan
The Sand Dunes are terrible and if they manage to get it into a bag they just leave them lying all over the place
Johanna Jones
Saw the other day, a guy in a suit with his dog in a car park, near some vegetation. Dog drops one in the car park, and the owner picks it up with a bag. I thought “Oh, good.” There was a dog bin around the small building, anyway. However, after picking it up, he just chucks it into the bushes…
Andrew De Jesus
Unfortunately we have had a spate of dog poo on our parking area outside our own home (private land). Lazy dog walkers just can’t be bothered to pick up their dogs poo so just try and cover it over with the stones so it’s left for my young children to walk in and for us to clean up. Disgusting.
Elisa Marriott
Havre des pas is the dog poo capital. Every pavement is littered with it.
Charlotte Goble
Sand dunes. As a dog owner myself, I am utterly shocked at the amount of dog poo left in the walkways. Disgusting people
