A 15-year-old girl is so frustrated by the amount of dog poo that isn't being picked up in her local community that she's spending her own pocket money to buy and distribute poo bags.
Rhonda Brennan set up campaign Boo to Poo just over a month ago after she had enough of walking through her hometown of Treherbert, Rhondda, with the sheer volume of people not picking up after their dogs.
She said: "I don't know whether it's laziness or lack of respect or pride for the community why people are not picking it up.
"It's got so bad here, it's a pandemic of dog droppings."
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She and her family are out often walking their two Dachshunds Prada and Fritte and say they often end up stepping in other dogs' mess.
This led the 15-year-old to want to use her pocket money to buy dog poo bags to distribute so that people wouldn't have an excuse not to pick it up anymore.
Rhonda believes that even though the council offer free dog poo bags one of the main issues is its distribution, with them only available for collection from a library, and a lack of product. The bags need to be available throughout the Rhondda so that everyone can access them, or alternatively she will drop them off, she said.
She is extremely passionate about this issue, as well as having an interest in politics. The teenager feels that by improving this issue she may then go on to tackle other problems in the area such as littering, as she is keen to clean up Treherbert.
Rhonda said: "Today Treherbert, tomorrow the Rhondda, next week the world."
She hopes to one day be Prime Minister but firstly is keen on improving her local community.
Rhonda's mum Barbara moved to the Rhondda back in 2016. She said: "The people of the Rhondda used to take such pride in where they lived, I'd often see people sweeping and cleaning the fronts of their houses on the weekend. There doesn't seem to be that same pride where we live anymore."
Earlier this month Rhondda Cynon Taf council announced an additional £40,000 to be spent on dog waste bins and is improving the availability of ‘doggy’ bags in a bid to help irresponsible dog owners.
They said: "There are over 1,500 red dog waste bins across the county borough all situated in well-known dog walking locations and hot spots. The latest investment will now see more bins installed or replaced where needed and the addition of ‘doggy’ bag dispensers in key areas – there really is no excuse not to scoop the poop and bag it and bin it! This money is in addition to the budget allocated for the maintenance of the service."
Local independent councillor Will Jones of the Treherbert ward met with Rhonda and is supportive of her efforts for the community. He said: "This is clearly an initiative from a young lady who is concerned about the effects of dog fouling in her community. On a wider scale, this applies across all of RCT where the vast majority of responsible dog owners pick up after their dogs. Still, there’s a minority who need to be made aware of the risks and damage this does to where we live. I fully support Rhonda’s initiative.
"There are also other projects in our community where people strive to make it a better and safer place to live. Well done Rhonda!"
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