North-east pupils who are fed up with dog mess on their sports pitches have launched an education campaign to encourage dog owners to clean up after their pets.
The P7 class at Alford Primary school decided to put pen to paper and write news articles about the problem after seeing their teacher regularly having to clean up the grass area where they exercise.
Teacher Derek Gray yesterday said the children had embraced the challenge to highlight the problem.
“Every time we go out on to the nearby sports pitch, I have to take plastic bags with me to pick up the numerous piles of dog mess that we find,” Mr Gray said.
“We have also had a problem with horse droppings within the village, but we did our research and found out that it isn’t as harmful.”
One pupil, Bethany Chalmers, 11, contacted the Press and Journal to highlight the weekly clean-up and send a message to dog owners throughout the area.
“We decided to start the project after Mr Gray had to pick up dog poo in the field before we played rugby,” she said.
“We all made our own articles and found out about the health and safety risks and the diseases that dog poo can carry.
“There are three bins in the sports field for dog mess, but there is so much of it just left lying around.
“Sometimes it’s in bags – but mostly it is lying on the grass.”
The pupils found 20 examples of fouling on one short tour of the area yesterday and are now considering how to take their message out to irresponsible dog owners, with one suggestion being a poster campaign.