Paws for thought and clean up after your pet responsibly!

Scoop your pet's poop and look after your local area, is the message from our Neighbourhood Care team this week.

It comes as our teams have been finding more and more dog fouling on footpaths and in communal areas and green spaces where they work.

Dog dirt is not only unpleasant for everyone, it’s a nuisance and dangerous too. Contact with it can cause an infection which can lead to dizziness, nausea, asthma and even blindness or seizures. Dog fouling can also stop our operatives from carrying out their job properly.

We are calling on our customers to help us get rid of this mucky problem by bagging your pet's poo and disposing of the bags in a litter bin. Alternatively you can take it home and put it in your grey wheelie bin.

You can report issues with dog fouling in your neighbourhood by calling 0161 393 7117.

Our Head of Neighbourhood Care, David Wrigley said: "Most dog owners in our neighbourhoods clean up after their pets responsibly, but unfortunately a minority don't.

“Being able to enjoy communal areas and green spaces has become more important than ever for our customers during the pandemic. We want them to be able to do this safely and for our team to be able to keep looking after your neighbourhoods well.

"We're urging all dog owners to clean up properly after their pets and dispose of the waste correctly so they don't spoil the fun for others or cause harm."

Councillor Amanda Chadderton, Deputy Leader of Oldham Council and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “No one wants to see dog poo left on their street.

“If everyone took waste bags out with them, cleaned up and then disposed of it properly there wouldn’t be an issue. And when we say disposed of it properly, we don’t mean leaving the bag on a tree.

“If you’re not prepared to pick up your dog’s poo, then you need to ask yourself if you really should have one?”