Pupils at a north-east school are urging dog owners to be more responsible.
Youngsters at Auchterellon Primary have written letters highlighting the issue of dog fouling in the school grounds.
The pupils say the mess is sometimes taken into the school on their shoes – and also prevents them from making the most of their large playground.
The school in Ellon backs onto a large playing field, but also has an area with play equipment down the side for the younger children.
Dog walkers have been spotted walking their pets in the grounds during school hours, sometimes allowing them to foul in the play area and not picking it up.
Class teacher Morag Will said: “It’s something that occurs from time to time. At the start of the new term there were quite a few incidents of it.
“We’ve only got one dog bin near our playground, we hope our letters might raise awareness of the issue and make the council consider putting up signs asking people to keep dogs on a lead and to get another bin.”
Ian Robertson, head of protective services and waste management at Aberdeenshire Council, urged owners to heed the youngsters’ pleas.
“We welcome the letters from pupils at Auchterellon School which highlight the irresponsibility of some dog owners in not cleaning up after their pets.
“It beggars belief that people allow their dogs to foul on school playgrounds where children will be playing.
“We urge all dog owners to take responsibility for their pets by tidying up any mess made in public spaces and make use of the nearest available bin. There is no excuse for dog owners not to bag it and bin it.”
Last year, the council announced it was getting tough on dog fouling by taking on more staff with the power to issue fines, making more bins available and drawing up the Clean Dog Walking Campaign.
The scheme involves walkers signing a pledge to not only clean up after their pets, but to promote the practice among other dog owners. In return, they are supplied with dog bags.
Formartine’s local community planning group also handed out 30,000 free dog bags and created a series of signs that can be moved around problem areas.