Dog fouling - why bag but not bin?

Hello dog owners!

I'm doing some research on dog fouling. Specifically why people will bother to pick up after their dog and put it in a bag. Then rather than put it in a bin, they will dump it in a bush or hang it from a tree/railing.

I'm trying to understand people's motivations for this - given that they can be bothered to reach down and pick up a nasty poo from the floor, why not seal the deal and carry it to a bin?

I appreciate that the vast majority of you on here are very responsible dog owners and always pick up and throw away but given that dog fouling and littering are both criminal offences (and can incur a double fine if you are caught), it is quite difficult to find people who will own up to having done it in the past.

I'd be really interested to know your views on this issue and whether you have ever had any experience of the problem. Has anyone seen it first hand - either bags left behind or caught people in the act? Is it more of a problem in certain places e.g. countryside, heritage sites, parks or just on the street?

Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to respond to my query, whatever you say will remain anonymous and no doubt come in very handy towards finding a solution to the problem that will hopefully make life better for everyone, including dog owners.

Jo

i saw this first hand a few months ago in my local park, i got chatting to a man out with his dog at which point my dog had a poo which i picked up we walked back towards the exit together me carrying rubys poo and his dog did its business the guy got a bag out picked the poop up tied the bag and then threw it into the long grass along the edge of the park, then walked with me to one of the many poo bins provied while i put rubys in then we walked out of the park and went are seperate ways, but all the time i was thinking why go to the effort of carrying poo bags and picking it up to then not walk the last few meters to put it in the bin, espcially as this is a very popular park thats used for everything from football to summer play schemes and which the council maintain brilliantly with 5 poo bins (which are emptied very regualrly) in a park that you could walk all the way round in 15 mins so you are never more than a couple of minutes from a bin,
it just makes no sense

I don't fully understand it to be honest. I hate picking up poo, and I hate it even more when I have to carry it for ages before I come to a bin. But I still do it because I've stood in poo, and ripped poo bags often enough to not wish it on anyone else!

I think it's more common in the countryside to leave it. I've noticed people usually pick up because other people are around and they'd be too embarassed not to. I've seen people who think there's no-one around (actually glance around to check) and then decide to leave it. So it's more common in the countryside because there's no-one there to kind of.. judge them(??) if they leave it.

More poo bins would stop the whole railings/branches thing. I'm not sure what would improve the not bothering to pick it up deal?

What we need is for the general public to be more vigilant about this themselves, and report it if they see it happening.

i really dont know why people do this... my worst part is picking the poo up, i dont mind carrying it in a bag though. so if i was to be able to pick it up, i could definitely carry it to a bin.

i will admit, on very few occassions, to not picking up at all but not for lack of trying! when jake is off lead (which isnt a lot just now), he can do his business (he very rarely does it in the park though, seems to prefer the garden) at a wee bit of a distance and by the time i get there is done so i have a hunt to find the blooming thing. no problem in the summer but in the autumn they get camoflaged in mud and leaves luckily this had only happened... i think twice, as jake has his weird thing about pooing in the garden.

i think in my park though, it is the severe lack of poo bins! (or any other type of bin!). we have one poo bin, and one normal bin that are right next to each. we used to have a poo bin at each of the 4 entrances to the park, but are now left with just the one (we also used to have 3 normal bins). so i think some people dont want to go all the way to the other side of the park to pop it in the bin. luckily for me, i live less than a minute walk to the park so i dont mind putting it in the bin at home but otherwise i wouldnt be happy to carry it all the way home (i would still do i though). so for my park, its the lack of poo bins that seems the biggest problem.

Lack if bins, they pick it up and can't dispose if it
ATD x

No bin to put it in. Not so much in the park but generally it can take a while to come across one. When you have more than one dog and children too it can be difficult to carry 2 sets of poo, hold 2 dog leads and try to hold childrens hands to cross the road. I don't dump it but have felt like it sometimes when you don't happen upon a bin for 30 mins

I have had someone tell me they pick it up so people don't tread in it and then throw it in the hedge where people won't walk as there are no poo bins.
Although I hate that I personally couldn't do it as I would be sure someone was spying on me and waiting to pounce or I would look so guilty someone would guess.
I would rather than leave it altogether for people to stand in they at least moved it.
The answer more dog bins as there is nothing more frustrating than having to walk for miles carrying a poo bag.
One chap several months ago wrote into our local paper saying he hated dog owners who walked along with these bags of poo swinging from thier hand, it made him heave and he thought we were a disgusting lot.
Seems sometimes you can't win.

interesting, had this discussion with my barber (and of course he's the man who knows everybody and can summarise the local consensus!)

non dog owners hate poo being left around, but they hate it even more when its left lying in a bag, you don't have to be a microbiologist to know how disgusting that is

tbh, i'd rather it was left lying than bagged and left lying, at least nature will remove it if its not in a bag

there are laws for this, i think the local fine is up to £500, but nobody has any knowledge of how it is, or should be enforced. might be an interesting angle to add this to this debate?

more poo bins would definately help

a few years ago a new/ relocated high school opened on a road from my estate to a field about 1/4 mile away. that road was heavily littered with take away cartons with the school kids carelessley discarding lunch packaging. the council must have added 20 bins along that stretch and the problem significantly improved

however, i guess the cost of dealing with dog waste bins is large as i'd imagine the waste must be incinerated? so, more bins would mean more council tax?

i think it goes back to enforcement imo

I hang poo in a tree. I mostly walk in the countryside, with not a poo bin in sight. If Stone goes at the start of the walk and we are doing a loop, then I hang it up (so it doesn't get peed on!) and then collect it on the way back. I guess if someone walked past it they would think it was left there.