GO Girvan, Tag Girvan and South Ayrshire Council have formed a partnership to tackle dog fouling in Girvan

As part of our campaign to make Girvan a more dog friendly destination, we wanted to address concerns about the potential increase in dog fouling if we attract more furry visitors. We are aware that dog fouling is already an issue in Girvan that upsets many people. It is highly unhygienic and unpleasant for residents and gives visitors a poor impression of our town.

From left to right – John Gillespie, Sue Andrew (Town Ambassadors) Rosemarie Speedie (TAG Girvan) Emma Gilchrist (SAC Compliance Officer) J.J McVittie, Pauline Forsyth (Town Ambassadors)

Ultimately, it is up to dog owners to be responsible and pick up after their dog before disposing of the poo bag correctly. It is actually an offence not to do this and offenders can be fined. Although the vast majority of dog owners do pick up after their pet, dog poo and discarded poo bags remain a problem in Girvan.

Emma Gilchrist is one of the SAC Compliance Officers who will be patrolling Girvan, both in plain clothes and high viz vests

In an effort to tackle the issue, Go Girvan, TAG Girvan and South Ayrshire Council have formed a partnership to introduce the following range of measures –

– TAG Girvan has secured funding for complimentary dog poo bags which can be picked up from the Tourist Information Point or our Town Ambassadors. If you need one, please just ask

– There are plenty of bins in Girvan so please dispose of poo bags properly. There are no magic fairies in Girvan to collect discarded ones and they don’t magically disappear either!

– South Ayrshire Council has supplied TAG Girvan with warning stickers and street stencils that will be placed around the town as reminders

– The council compliance officers will be patrolling Girvan both in high viz vests and plain clothes. They can issue fines to any offenders they catch failing to comply with the dog fouling law

– The council has also supplied TAG with biodegradable paint which will be used to spray paint dog poo in selected areas. By literally highlighting the problem, it is hoped that this will act as a shock tactic and encourage dog owners to pick up after their pets. It will also help us to identify ‘poo hot spots’ and this intelligence will be passed to the council compliance officers so they can concentrate their patrols on the most problematic areas

– The selected areas will be monitored and surveyed over a couple of months by TAG Girvan to see if there is any reduction in dog poo. If you would like to volunteer to assist in the survey, please contact [email protected] – the more volunteers who can help, the bigger the area we can tackle

– Finally (and most importantly!) if you want to report concerns about dog fouling, please e-mail [email protected] as this will help the council direct its resources more effectively.

Although we are trying to find ways to tackle this problem, we have very limited resources. If your Girvan group, organisation or neighbourhood wants to get involved in this initiative please do get in touch with [email protected] or [email protected]

The more local people who volunteer to tackle this issue, the bigger impact we can make in our community.