Cardiff: Dog ban call over poo on sports pitches
- Published
Harri was left with dog poo on his trainers and socks after rugby training
Seven-year-old Harri was playing for his rugby team when he fell in dog poo on the pitch.
His father, Darren Donovan, from Cardiff, said: "Something has to be done before someone is seriously hurt."
Now he has set up a petition asking Cardiff council to ban dogs from marked pitches during sports season.
The council will consider the request but said it was "a small minority of irresponsible dog owners that are the root cause of the problem".
Mr Donovan, the minis and juniors chairman at Whitchurch RFC, said his wife arrived at training to see 10 dogs across two pitches.
He said: "We walk the pitches and carry poo bags in our kit, but sometimes some can get missed.
"My son took part in the training session, he fell once he was tagged and landed in dog poo.
"He then had to be taken to the changing rooms and his socks went straight in the bin.
"I'm a dog person myself, but if you take dogs to a place like that you keep them on the lead. If they do make a mess you pick it up."
He said: "There's loads of stories I've seen, a man from Port Talbot playing rugby lost his foot. He had to have an operation because dog mess went into a cut.
'Problem for years'
"It can be a life changing event, something has to be done before someone is seriously hurt."
Norman Rees, coach of another Cardiff team, Caerau Ely RFC's under 11s, said: "Dogs being able to foul the pitch has been a problem for us too for a number of years.
"I'm a dog walker myself, but I always stay away from any rugby or football pitch because I know the problems it could cause for the players if it got into an open wound or in someone's eyes, for example.
"I took my son down to the pitch one Monday afternoon, and by the posts there was a pile of mess. I know my godson and son has been covered in it."
"We've got a shovel we take to games."
Mr Donovan, said his son's ordeal was not an isolated incident at their club.
"Our under 10s were training, and a couple of them had it on their boots. One mother didn't see and they didn't know until they were driving home and they could smell it in the car.
"We also had a cup game last week for Whitchurch seniors, and the referee wouldn't start the game because there was dog mess on the pitch.
'Completely unacceptable'
"It had to be removed before we could start."
Cardiff council cabinet member for culture, parks and events Jennifer Burke-Davies said it was "completely unacceptable".
She said: "When the council last consulted on proposals to ban dogs from marked public pitches at certain times of the year, there was an overwhelming response and a strong public feeling against doing that.
"The vast majority of dog owners act responsibly, and they felt they would have been unfairly penalised through no fault of their own.
"Anyone caught not cleaning up after their dog, or not carrying the means to clean up, could face a £100 fixed penalty notice.
"The health dangers they are leaving behind for others to potentially come into contact with should be deterrent enough."
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