Dog mess on Newport pitch a danger to health
A county rugby club could be forced to cancel matches because selfish dog owners are exercising their pets on its pitches and failing to clean up after them.
Simon Harris, president of Newport (Salop) RUFC, said the continual problem of dog mess at the club's Old Showground, in Forton Road, was costing members and volunteers time and money which would be "better spent on rugby".
Mr Harris said: "This problem has now got to a stage where it is getting out of hand.
"People always walk their dogs around the area but it has got to the stage now where we have got to bring it to people's attention.
"We could be stopped from playing rugby on these pitches for health and safety reasons.
"We have tried to tackle it before and put up a number of signs and boards asking people to stick to the footpath and use a plastic bag to pick up faeces if their dog does foul, but some people are ignoring it – not everybody but still more than we would like.
"It sets us back because we have a health and safety responsibility to the people who use these pitches. They are used to play rugby, it is a contact sport where you can spend a lot of time on the ground and it is sometimes littered with dog faeces – we find this problem occurs at least every day.
"The volunteers have to clear it up and we would rather spend out time playing rugby.
"It is completely unreasonable."
The pitch is used by teams from the under six age group side all the way to senior level.
Training takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays and matches are played on Saturdays and Sundays.
Mr Harris added: "My message is please keep your dog on the lead and please stick to the footpath and if the dog does foul, use a plastic bag please pick it up and take it home with you – our pitch is not for that.
"You can't put a number on the financial setback because we use volunteers but ultimately that is their time and we could be stopped from playing any rugby on these surfaces because of health and safety reasons. We have had to hold up or delay matches in the past to get dog mess cleared up."
The pitches are used by more than 350 players and 200 social members of the club. The club is managed by volunteers and voluntary body Newport Agricultural Society allows them to use the Old Showground pitch.
