Allergy concerns over school dogs after woman falls ill

Dogs are believed to "bring joy" to school pupils

Allergy concerns have been raised about dogs appearing in Borders schools after a member of staff ended up in hospital.

The woman was off work for months after developing an allergy to an in-house dog.

Scottish Borders Council had introduced a school dogs policy with three in place across the region.

The local authority has given assurances that there will be checks in place.

Scottish Borders Council has approved a new school dogs policy

Hawick & Denholm councillor Clair Ramage urged caution over allergies after receiving "worrying emails".

She said one school staff member ended up in Borders General Hospital after finding an untrained puppy running around a meeting.

Ms Ramage said that although it was classed as a low allergy dog, the woman's condition deteriorated.

She had to use an inhaler many times a day, take anti-histamines, and change her clothes and shower after work.

She said the woman felt her job was not sustainable with the dog in place.

Responsible owner

Ms Ramage said she was worried the council had "jumped the gun" by allowing a dog in the school without sufficient protections in place.

She said: "We need to think about duty of care to all staff and pupils. We have children too with severe allergies.”

The council introduced dogs in schools to benefit pupils in academic environments.

The policy requires a staff member to be the "responsible owner".

Education director Lesley Munro gave assurances that checks would be carried out before dogs are allowed into schools.

Follow the BBC for the South of Scotland on X.

Listen to news for the Scottish Borders on BBC Sounds.