Dogsey

A six-year-old Collie who has been amazing passers-by because of her penchant for picking up litter and placing it in the bin now looks set to find fame as the face of an anti-littering campaign. Rescue dog Meg has reportedly attracted the attention of the local warden in Great Cornard, Suffolk, who is looking to sign her up.

Meg's owner, Ken Pople, 69, told a newspaper how Meg will run hundreds of yards to put drink cans into bins, leaving other people “open-mouthed”.

“She just loves doing it and is able to put the litter into all sorts of different bins,” he said. “There are times when we are out and she will drop her ball and run off to put a can in the bin – it's a sight to see.”

Meg is so efficient that when council workers arrive at the park in the early morning, there is sometimes very little rubbish left for them to clear.

“When people get up and see a nice clean playing field on a Sunday morning – unbeknown to them Meg has been putting rubbish in the bin,” said Mr Pople.

Mr Pople went on to say how Meg has inspired “litter bugs” into using bins.

'We were out on the meadows once and there was a group of young lads and girls and one of them had lobbed a can into the grass.

'Meg went along and picked it up and took it over to the nearest bin and dropped it in. The boy’s reaction was to say "that was awesome" so I was able to say "perhaps that has taught you a lesson, if she can do it, perhaps you can too."

'I saw them later and they picked up all their rubbish into carrier bag and the lad gave me a thumb’s up sign as he put it all in the bin.

'I think sometimes a dog can have a better impact at teaching people than I could have done as they would have undoubtedly taken offence had I told them off.'

Community warden Andy Nunny hopes that Meg's litter picking will influence people to do the same, as part of the town council's Suffolk Spring Fortnight clean-up efforts, saying: “If a dog can be trained to put rubbish in the bin, then surely people can learn to as well.”