The Galway City Council has announced that it will launch the Responsible Dog Ownership campaign this month.
The campaign, which is funded through the Anti-Litter Awareness Grant, will aim to tackle the long-standing issue of dog fouling on Galway’s city streets. It calls on responsible dog owners to sign up and commit to changing their habits, and ‘take the lead’ as active ambassadors for positive change.
As a part of the campaign there will be a month long radio promotion which will include a series of interviews, competitions, and advertisements broadcast by Galway Bay FM, the distribution of a free booklet and an infographic entitled The Inside Scoop detailing the impacts of dog fouling and the journey of the offending poop, and an extensive social media campaign to raise awareness and to urge Galway’s dog owners to clean up after their pets.
There will also be a distribution of pooper scoopers, and mutt mitts at various locations across the city, several events such as the MADRA Dogathon and a Dog Tagging event, as well as a school’s programme to educate Galway’s young people about responsible dog ownership.
The campaign has been developed as a result of regular consultation with relevant organisations from the city including the Galway Dog Club, MADRA, GSPCA, the dog warden, various pet stores and veterinary clinics, Access for All, NCBI, Galway Healthy Cities, and the HSE.
Labour councillor Niall McNelis, who is a long time advocate for change in the area of dog fouling and how it affects the city, in particular in relation to popular dog-walking spots such as the Salthill Promenade and in Cappagh Park, welcomes the news and believes that the campaign will certainly go a long way to making the public more aware of the problem.
“From my involvement in Tidy Towns, I have worked with Dr Sharon Carroll of Galway City Council, and welcome the plan to get tough over May and June. I had a motion down for nearly two years asking for more resources to be given to tackling dog dirt, and I commend the Environment Department for getting the funds together,” he said. “Education, prevention, and highlighting the problem will get this mess under control and the city can take the lead in tackling it.”
