Dad fed up of having to dodge dog mess on walk to school

Friday 6th January 2012, 2:29PM GMT.

Shaun Vidamour is fed up with having to avoid dog mess at Rue du Galaad when he walks six-year-old daughter Isabel to school along Rue du Galaad with younger sister Esme in the buggy.  (Picture by Steve Sarre, 1213850)
Shaun Vidamour is fed up with having to avoid dog mess at Rue du Galaad when he walks six-year-old daughter Isabel to school along Rue du Galaad with younger sister Esme in the buggy. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 1213850)

A FATHER of two is fed up with the amount of dog mess he has to dodge when walking his daughters to and from La Mare de Carteret Primary School.

Shaun Vidamour, 40, said Rue du Galaad was always full of the droppings and he regularly has to wipe clean his daughter’s shoes, along with the buggy he uses.

‘It was since my first daughter, Isabel, started school six months ago that I have really noticed it because we are walking to and from school and it is just annoying,’ he said.

‘Sometimes I have to go in the road with the buggy to dodge it and that is a safety issue in itself really.’


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  1. 1
    pbfalla

    When you live in a s***hole,it comes with the packaging im afraid

    never happened in the good old days mind ya

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  2. 2
    Dani

    I used to have the same problem with horse poo on the way home. It stays on the road for ages.

    No excuse for not picking up after your dog.

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    • Dave

      It’s a pity that the law doesn’t extend to horseriders too. It would be great to see them have to dismount, get the shovels out and cart black sack sized poo bags to local receptacle!

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      • Ectopudding

        Not practical, besides which horses drop their mess in the centre of the road and not on the pavement or the side where pedestrians would be walking.

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        • Dave

          What are horses doing in the centre of the road? I used to live near a stable in St Sampsons and there was always horse poo at sides of the road nearby – in fact, just in the right place for passing cars to drive through it and spray the pavement…

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        • Mark

          Surely not unreasonable to ask them to shovel it off onto the verge where it will do a lot more good?

          It’s bloody dangerous coming round a corner on my bike to be greeted by horse excrement spread all across the road (for those not used to 2 wheels, it’s very slippery)

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        • j

          I don’t know about that. The horse poo in my road yesterday stretched from one side of the road to the other.

          I had to pick up my buggy and carry across.

          All horses on public roads should have to wear nappys

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    • kevin

      Mark,

      It’s a bit tricky to carry a shovel when you are riding a horse…..

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  3. 3
    Royston Gauno

    Does anyone know why some doggy do is white ?

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    • James

      I know the answer to that one! It’s when the dog has gnawed and eaten a big bone.
      I do wonder whether it might be a trifle painful to produce, being in effect a big stick of chalk…

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    • Nathan

      Royston, funny u should mention that. I’ve seen lots of white ones down petit bot. Outside that little cottage.

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    • sarnia expat

      Phosphorescent particles are added to dog food to aid dog poo visability. Apparently scientists at Porton Down wanted to go further, adding more so that the resulting yellow poo would glow in the dark.

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  4. 4
    mike

    Ah but Dani you can use horse poo on the garden. Does wonders for rhubarb and roses.

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  5. 5
    James

    I’m fed up with students from Mare de Carteret leaving rubbish all down my lane on the way to/from school.
    How do I know it’s them? Because a) it’s a mix of cheap cigarette packs, junk food wrappers and fizzy drink bottles, and b) it only appears on school days.
    Perhaps as a way of improving the school’s image and self-respect the head could get some of the students to go out on regular litter-picking patrols.

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    • Spartacus

      James

      If a child of mine did that I would make them clean up all the litter – including that of other people’s dogs. Please don’t tar all LMDC students with the same brush though – I imagine the littering is just down to a minority of wrongdoers which you get in any school. As you can see from the dog complaint – adults can be just as irresponsible. I agree with your suggestion though.

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    • Rachel

      Or it could be the parents?

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    • sarnia expat

      Not sure it is just the students fault – why do you think they have drafted in extra help for the poor teaching staff……..

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  6. 6
    Es

    We have the same problem in the isle of man with added bonus of cr@p weather!

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  7. 7
    Brian Harper

    No excuse: Plastic bags are cheap enough; put your hand in one, pick up the droppings, pull the bag back over your hand, tie a knot in the end and drop the mess in a rubbish bin.
    In my part of the world it is very expensive to leave your dog’s droppings and walk away – quite rightly too!

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  8. 8
    Crocodile

    Most dog owners pick up their dog’s faeces. Some even pick up the litter they encounter daily on their walks. Those who don’t probably have the same mind-set as the fly-tippers and louts that litter the island with take-away rubbish and cigarette packets. The growing amount of litter puzzles me. Are most Guernsey people blind to it, or do they simply have so little pride in their island that they tolerate it rather than become pro-active and pick it up? If people, other than dog-walkers, each picked up a few pieces of litter when they’re out walking, the appearance of the island would improve considerably. I know, it’s distasteful to have to pick up other’s peoples’ rubbish but, if you care about your environment, it’s worth the effort. Come on Guerns, clean up. You’re supposed to be donkeys not pigs.

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  9. 9
    Marty

    Whats worse than leaving doggy sh…t on the cliff paths are the morons who pick it up in a plastic bag then chuck said bag into the nearest hedge!
    Presumably the same people crap in their pants

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    • Sandy

      Agree. Some morons also just chuck the filled bags into the nearest hedge, even if that is the hedge of someone’s garden. We usually find it when we’re doing the hedges and it’s not pleasant.

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    • C Le Verdic

      What about the ones who hang the bag on a branch?

      Next thing that happens is the blue tits are along pecking at it while waiting for the milkman to deliver your pinta!

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  10. 10
    soph

    Yep Marty, plenty do that when they think none are looking
    Worse if chucked in field, that little green plastic bag kills cows, goats & sheep if they are unlucky enough to swallow it!
    Social education needed but thinks Education going to face a bigger prob than dog pooh, more like they did an oops and no hidden places to hide it!

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  11. 11
    pyer

    It is painfully obvious that nothing is going to happen to deter those dog owners who do not clear up, until there are some prosecutions.

    In a court case a couple of years back, a dog owner got let off the charge as there was no scientific proof that the dog poo in question had actually been deposited by the dog in question. This was despite evidence from the then Castel constable that he had seen that dog do that poo.

    This means that if you are :-
    a)unable to face up to your guilt and
    b)wealthy enough to be able to afford a top advocate….
    you will walk away from court having been found not guilty.

    This makes a complete mockery of the law

    ps – I believe the advocate in question was the same one who has recently gone public about being owed money by a former local restaurater who now lives in Spain. Enough said!!

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  12. 12
    Spartacus

    It has been said that some posters on your shout talk a load of ****. Now this is literally true. Fascinating stuff though.

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  13. 13
    Spartacus

    I was especially amused that half way through this thread someone has tried to politely change the topic of conversation to the weather!

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  14. 14
    valeite

    I applaud people that pick up their dog poo,but I do have a chuckle when I see them carrying the little plastic bag like a trophy, just to prove they have picked up the mess. I dont carry my grandaughters nappy bag around like that, so I find it quite strange they want the doggie bag on show.

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    • Dog walker

      Dont be daft! I was walking my dogs yesterday and they all decided to epty their bowls on the walk, I ended up with a big bag of cr*p I had to walk with. If I dont hold it in my hand where else are you supposed to? Im certainly not going to put a bag of poo in my jacket pocket as im sure you wouldnt put a dirty nappy in yours. Its hardly a trophy. In fact I was desperate to get rid, so as I walked past our parish douzaine room, I walked in the car park hoping for a bin. They are the ones I pay rates to and a dog licence, so the poo bag had to do a little tour of duty with me! There is a severe lack of bins around the isalnd for walkers. The states and parishes are quite happy to up our refuse rates even though we are dumping less and recycling more! I also agree that horses should wear nappys and they do exist and are law in some citys, they are called “bun bags”. Horse manure left in the roads has caused traffic accidents in the UK. Ecoli can get in to our water sustem from there poo also, being washed straight down the drain. Keeping on the subject of horses, why can they wander along the road at walking pace during the working day? I dont walk my dog in front of the traffic and if I had to by law then I wouldnt do it when there are thousands of cars on the road. Id do it at a sensible time like 6am, like most dog walkers already do. Oh yes and if a dog licence, why no cat or horse licence?

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    • Sandy

      Maybe they’re looking for a bin in which to deposit it….What do you expect them to do with it?..!! Put it in their pockets..But then not such a bad idea It’d keep their hands warm eh?..

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    • Rich

      Ignorant comment, by trophy you mean holding it away from the body rather than in their pocket, purse or hugging it?!?! Silly woman…

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  15. 15
    Grrrrrr

    I’ve only regularly encountered dog mess in town on Doyle Road and near St James. I don’t find horse mess a big problem, however nobody seems to be bothered by cats fouling all over private property. That is my biggest gripe. Living in an estate where it seems that every other house owns at least one cat I suffer far more fouling in my own garden by other peoples cats than by any other animal on the public rights of way. Contrary to what people will say, cats can be trained to only mess in one place. It is only the owners that are too lazy to bother. If I owned a dog and let it wander the streets fouling on other peoples property I’d very quickly have complaints and end up in court. I’ve spent considerable time and money to keep cats off my property to little effect but there is no apparent legal recourse aginst the cat owners in the same way as against a dog owner.

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    • SS

      Grrrrr.

      Use a catapult. That gets rid of the little blighters – and its therapeutic too!

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    • rosie

      Couldn’t agree more. Dog mess is foul enough but cat mess is really disgusting particularly because, as you say, they come into your garden and merrily poop wherever they want. I hope that there isn’t anyone on here complaining about dog / horse mess if they have a cat that they are letting out to roam the neighbourhood!

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  16. 16
    SS

    We should have a referendum on suitable punishment for people who don’t clear up after their animals. I would vote for the owners having their noses rubbed in it.

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  17. 17
    Sarah

    I understand what he is saying I even find now walking around some parts of the town there is dogs mess Not good. Pick up after your dog if not don’t have dogs.

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  18. 18
    Alvin J Furrer

    I feel so so sorry for the poor poor people on the island who are suffering from a bit of doggie poo poo on the pathways.

    I would not be worried about the poo poo but more worried about the big Range Rovers, Landcruisers, BMW X5s and Guernseybuses that drive on the pavements.

    As for horses, they usually do not walk on the pavements but on the road, but I do admit their poo poo tends to dwarf the little doggie poo.

    But what about the cows… I remember as a kid, especially walking up the Blanches Pierres Lanes, having to steer clear of the little mountains of cow poo poo that were deposited in the lanes. Terrible it was after the South Show !

    Oh you lucky people… worst of your problems appears to be a bit of poo poo ! ;-)

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