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Wick shop owner's 'utter disgust' over dog poo at window


By David G Scott

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Just as Wick's community council launches an initiative to tackle dog fouling on the town's streets a local shopkeeper highlighted a particularly bad case outside his premises.

On Wednesday morning, Chris Haugh was going into his gift and craft shop called House of Haugh, situated on Kirk Lane, when he was met by a nasty surprise awaiting him.

"I didn't see it at first as I came out the car and went into the shop but when I came back to the car, that was when I saw it – I was totally and utterly disgusted," said Chris as he pointed out the pile of excrement on the shop's windowsill.

Wick shopowner Chris Haugh talked about his disgust at finding dog excrement on the windowsill of his shop. Picture: DGS
Wick shopowner Chris Haugh talked about his disgust at finding dog excrement on the windowsill of his shop. Picture: DGS

"I was down here at eight o'clock last night and there was nothing there at that time so it must have been done between then and when I came in this morning. There are CCTV cameras nearby and I'm hoping whoever it was will be visible and get prosecuted."

Chris says he and his wife Nicola own a cocker spaniel and that when he goes out for a walk with the dog he always carries bags to clean up any mess left on the pavement. One of his bags was put to good use on Wednesday morning to pick up the sizeable amount of excrement sitting about a foot off the ground on the concrete windowsill.

Chris bags up the dog poo from the windowsill. Picture: DGS
Chris bags up the dog poo from the windowsill. Picture: DGS

When Chris posted a photo of the mess on Facebook, many local people commented on the matter with one saying: "I hope the CCTV shows clearly that you could see the dogs owner and he/she gets a big fine." A Thurso woman wrote: "I hate the smell but my god would still pick it up... what if some kid fell in that."

Chris has been running the Kirk Lane shop with his wife for just over a year now and sells local handmade crafts as well as eco friendly toys and children's clothing. House of Haugh also has an online store which has accumulated close to 1300 followers on its Facebook page and a number of positive reviews.

House of Haugh has been up and running for over a year now and has garnered positive reviews online. The owners are awaiting new signs to be erected on both sides of the building. Picture: DGS
House of Haugh has been up and running for over a year now and has garnered positive reviews online. The owners are awaiting new signs to be erected on both sides of the building. Picture: DGS

Some social media users wondered if it was human excrement on the window ledge but Chris poo-poohed the idea saying it was very unlikely the shop had been targeted intentionally. "It's vile and disgusting and there's no excuse for this kind of thing. People should clean up after their pets and not leave it to business owners."

The issue of dog-fouling was highlighted by members of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council (RBWCC) earlier this year with chairperson Joanna Coghill complaining that pavements throughout the town were "absolutely filthy". At a meeting in February she said: “There is not one street in this town that hasn’t got a lump of dog poo on it." She felt that dog-fouling had increased significantly during the pandemic.

RBWCC subsequently launched an initiative with two local primary schools to design posters that will be positioned around Wick in a new bid to tackle the issue. Details of the initiative were revealed in an article published in the Groat's online newspaper on Wednesday.

Community councillor Alan Bruce said: “If anybody in the town knows of any really problematic areas we would ask them to get in touch with the community council secretary.” The email address is secretary@wickcommunitycouncil.com

Related article:

School pupils' dog-fouling poster designs to be displayed around Wick




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