Dogsey

Stubborn dog owners are spoiling Portencross, one of the most attractive hamlets on the West Coast.

That's the view of a resident who has hit out at the 'disgusting' mess caused by dog dirt in the historic port - a popular haunt for photographers and walkers.

Audrey Kolon is so angry at dog owners not picking up after their pets that she has come up with a novel idea to 'flag up' the problem.

She has placed canes into the each piece of dog excrement, and tied up dog poo bags to the top of each cane, which look like flags.

A total of SIXTY pieces of dog dirt have been found at the beauty spot during the past few weeks.

However, she has encountered a number of problems including doo poo warning signs being ripped off the gate at Portencross, and there were reports of filled poo bags being thrown on to the West Kilbride Primary School yard.

Audrey said: “You can’t believe mentaility - and you think, this is quite a nice part of West Kilbride, run by the school - but someone who lives in the town who take their dogs for a walk continues to do this. It is terrible.”

And the campaigner, who is a member of the anti-dog fouling campaign in West Kilbride, is calling for tougher measures to deal with the problem including more assistance from dog wardens. The area is also popular with cyclists and pedestrians, and is also a highly popular spot for amateur photographers due to the panoramic landscape.

“I have not finished putting up the parcels on the canes, it is just disgusting. I have already put up around 30, and will be putting up 20 or so. I decided it was time to do something about it and make it a display to embarrass the dog owners into picking up after their pets. I have also put up a sign, pointing out that children play here. I think it important to highlight the issue.”

Audrey managed to get a dog bin at the gate entrance to Portencross, but she has also provided her own bin near the pier for both rubbish and dog poo, yet the problem keeps persisting.

She said: “I am trying to make the area more user friendly, but it feels like I am banging my head against a brick wall sometimes. We have a West Kilbride anti-dog fouling committee and try out a range of different initiatives.

“The mess that people leave behind is not as bad in the summer but it is really bad in the winter. It maybe because it is dark so owners know that they can let the dog do what it likes, and ‘nobody is going to seeing me’, but something drastic needs to be done.”

‘News’ reporter Calum Corral has also encountered the problem when cycling down to Portencross, and frustration is continuing to mount over the problem.
Audrey continued: “It is a huge problem, and we have our own poo dispensers and poo bags put around the village. We have also put coloured hair spray around some of the dog poo left in the village, but it is difficult to find the dog owners who are perpetrating the crime, and that is why we would like more help from the dog warden.”

And while signs continue to get removed, Audrey said that she is equally persistent, hence why she has set up the dog poo ‘flags’ on the grassy area next to Portencross pier to make an example of the problem.

“I am not going to be defeated on this - it is an issue that I feel very strongly about and dog owners need to take heed of the problem.” she said.