Is Horsley home to the dog poo capital of the Illawarra?
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Shone Avenue has become the subject of passionate online debate after a resident counted a surprising number of doggy do-don’ts on the semi-rural roadside.
Adriana O’Bryan walks her dog Busta on Shone Avenue daily – always with bags in hand, and a willingness to pick up after her animal.
There were large ones, there were tiny ones – multiple sizes, so it’s not just one dog.
- Adriana O'Bryan
Recently she counted 42 piles of unclaimed dog faeces on a 300-metre stretch of roadside north of Robins Creek Bridge.
“And that was just the left side of the road,” Ms O’Bryan told the Mercury. “I don’t even know about the right side.”
“There were large ones, there were tiny ones – multiple sizes , so it’s not just one dog.
“It’s disgusting and it’s blatant laziness. And the smell is probably making more dogs want to poo there.
“It doesn’t matter where my dog poos – I pick it up. It’s really not that hard.”
Aesthetics and odours aside, Ms O’Bryan, a veterinary nurse, worries the problem presents a health hazard.
Unlike horses, dog deposits can’t take years to break down. Meantime, the piles can transmit diseases between dogs.
“If dogs are not treated for worms these are carried through their poo,” Ms O’Bryan said.
“I am constantly correcting Busta and pulling him away from sniffing the poo.
“Whilst he is treated for worms I don't want him near it. Parvo [virus] is also transferred via faeces which is highly deadly and contagious.”
Ms O’Bryan believes the road’s rural outlook, limited traffic and new walking path makes it ripe for dog-walking – and abandoned dog droppings.
She revealed her findings in an online post, which she pitched as “exciting news for all those dog owners out there who walk their dogs out along Shone Avenue Horsley and let your dogs crap wherever they feel like and leave it there for the rest of us to enjoy”.
“To everyone that has let their dog contribute to this incredible number please, give yourselves a round of applause,” she continued in a post to a Dapto community forum.
“Without your ignorance and selfish nature the rest of us may never have been able to enjoy such a vast arrangement of dog faeces.’’
Angela Thompson
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
