DEAR DOG OWNERS OF HIGHAM HILL, WALTHAMSTOW, E17

We meet almost every day; I’m on my way to or from the nursery/school and you are taking your pets for their morning or evening walks. Regardless of the weather, regardless of the seasons, regardless of the daylight or luck of it – we are pushing the pram/pulling the leash day in - day out. We exchange polite smiles, greetings, often complement each other about the adoring pet and the adoring child. My child – a big lover of small animals – occasionally even strokes or touches the nose of your dog. We know the names of quite a few of your pets. We also regularly recognise each other in the grocery shop, the post office or our local greasy spoon and nod our heads courteously.
I think it’s about time you also start cleaning behind your dogs! Sorry I’m not brave enough to ask every one of you personally and instead, I’m writing this letter. Believe me – it’s out of pure despair. By starting collecting the waste matter behind your pets, you would demonstrate more respect towards me, my child, our neighbourhood and ultimately your canine friends!
Why do I have to walk in zig-zag movements and scan every step with eagle eyes hoping myself, my child, the stroller or the scooter will not end up in a pile of dung left behind by your adoring pet? And still in spite of all my efforts we often bring home smelly brown lumps on the soles of our shoes or wheels of the scooter or the stroller. Needless to say first thing I do when I come home is check whether we brought in some unpleasant remainders of the route we took. So – it’s alright for me to clean after your pets, why you couldn’t be bothered?
The small path at the back of the houses that leads to our local park has between parents of young children been popularly renamed The Poop Avenue. As you should be lucky to find a narrow channel through piles of excrement… Please do not forget this is also the quickest route to the nursery and the park for many of parents in the neighbourhood. But of course you do not give a sh**t about it…
How would you feel if we – parents of young children - just lower our sprogs’ pants and let them do their business on the pavement just in front of your house and leave the offensive product there? Or if we just spread soiled nappies all over the neighbourhood? You wouldn’t think twice about calling the social services as we do not deserve our children. But - do you really deserve your dogs?
And just do not tell me “it wasn’t me, I always clean after my dog!” On a weekly basis there is probably enough manure to cater for a cornfield or two. And that’s just on the three roads (including The Poop Avenue) that I take on the way to the nursery. The only thing I can tell you is: “that’s a lot of dogs**t…