I READ with interest your report that Blackburn with Darwen Council is to 'get tough' with dog owners who allow their pets to foul pavements and other public places.

I would like to point out to these civic worthies that few, if any, dogs of my experience are toilet trained and as they have to defecate somewhere, responsible owners carry a pooper scooper and plastic bag with them when they take Fido for walkies.

Note the use of the adjective 'responsible.' It is a pity that homo sapiens are not asked to undergo character checks and IQ assessments when becoming owners of a pet, as so few have the brain power to look after themselves, let alone an animal.

When I look around me at the mayhem perpetrated by my fellow humans, many who would put Neanderthals to shame, I think what a pity that urinating and vomiting in public, aggressive begging, foul language and general bad manners aren't pursued with the same kind of zeal as that credited to our civic guardians in their 'war' on dirty dogs.

Personally I'd rather wade through a tide of dog muck than rub shoulders with some of the trash fouling the pavements of every town and city in this once fair land.

But, then, I am an unashamed dog lover and much prefer their company to Joe Public's.

FRED SHAWCROSS, Bolton.

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