Letters: Dog poo creates New Forest no-go areas for families

SIR - I refer to the recent letter from Mark Harrison, a visitor to the New Forest.

I very much agree with Mr Harrison that there is far too much dog mess left in the Forest. Large tracts of the forest, particularly areas adjacent to car parks, are effectively no-go areas for families with children due to the amount of dog poo left on the ground.

These days, there are so many dogs being walked in the forest that in my opinion, we dog owners should clear up our dog’s poo, bag it and dispose of it in a rubbish bin or take it home for disposal.

When out walking my dog on the Forest I often come across bags containing dog poo lying on the ground or incredibly, hanging in trees or in the undergrowth.

I wonder, does owning a dog affect our short-term memory because I assume that the people who bag up their dogs poo, then leave the bag on the ground, or hanging in trees etc must either forget that they need to take the bag away for disposal, or could they simply be ignorant?

We have learnt to clean up our dog’s poo in our streets and parks so I guess we just need to do the same in our beautiful Forest.

Keith Charles, Lymington