Gift 'fur' dog owners

Dog owners in Alness will receive a surprise package from an oversized pooch on Alness High Street tomorrow Saturday (10th June) to encourage them to clean up after their dogs.

‘Scoopy doo’ the mascot of the Alness Community Partnership’s ‘Scoopy Doo’ campaign will be handing out free poop scoop bags to shoppers.

The free bags are being given out at the tail end of an initiative to encourage dog owners in Alness to clean up after their dogs. The Alness Community Partnership decided to take the lead and use humour and art to tackle one of the community’s biggest nuisances.

Tom Greig (dressed up as Scoopy Doo), from the Partnership said they hoped the free bags, a poster campaign and the provision of extra dog bins around the town would encourage owners to work with them in ridding the town of the menace. He said: “Dog fouling is always a hot item on our agendas so rather than moan about it we decided to try and do something about it.

“We hope to tackle this mess problem in a fun way and get dog owners to appreciate a little unpleasantness on their part would improve things a lot for everyone else.”

The free bags are also available from the Alness Heritage Centre and Highland Council Service Points.”

The Alness Community Partnership will be entering their Scoopy Doo Campaign into this year’s Standing Up To Anti Social Behaviour Awards being run by the Scottish Executive.

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The Alness Community Partnership is a group made up of representatives from the 7 Residents Associations in the area, the Alness Community Economic Development Partnership, the Alness Initiative, other community groups and agencies such as the NHS, the Police and The Highland Council.

Tom Greig is the Chair of the Westford Action Group in Alness and also a member of the Alness Community Partnership.