It's a disgrace! THE dogs' toilet which was once Queens Rec is a disgrace. It is akin to treading gingerly through a minefield while negotiating that once-pleasant open parkland, down Boundary Road, St Helens, in order to avoid the canine mess.

Apologies for turning delicate stomachs, but I feel that some sort of protest is in order. The menace - which can lead to blindness in children who come in contact with infectious canine faeces - has built up during the recent spell of unseasonably hot weather. Dog walkers have been turning up in packs at this public open space - I totted up 17 assorted dogs at the last count, most of them off-lead and careering around wildly.

Any well-meaning person pointing out that dogs should be under control and their deposits scooped up is likely to be met by a barrage of insults (I witnessed an example of this myself).

I'm an animal lover (owner of two dogs) and appreciate the particular difficulty in bringing up a dog in a built-up area. But it surely isn't too much to ask every owner to remove the doggy deposits (in fairness, I observed a couple of the Queens Park regulars doing so) and to keep their pets on a lead where other people are strolling and children are at play.

Despite the oft-repeated publicity about this menace and the warning of fines, it seems that the dog-dirt problem is equally acute at public places throughout the borough, including council football pitches and even the local cemeteries.

So what can be done about it? Well, for starters I'd like to recommend that as well as imposing maximum fines on the stubborn owners who permit their dogs to foul these public places, the offenders should be ordered to undergo pooper-scoop community service at problem spots around the borough.

PERHAPS this might make them clean-up their act!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.