A LOCAL environmental group has hit out at dog walkers who leave dog dirt at a York nature reserve.

The Friends of Rawcliffe Meadows manage the riverbank at Clifton Ings and Rawcliffe Meadows and have done for nearly 25 years.

Dr Mick Phythian, spokesperson for the Friends of Rawcliffe Meadows, said the problem with walkers leaving bags of dog dirt on the fields was worse than ever.

He said: “If one were to walk from Clifton Ings to country park there’d be hundreds.

“Others pick it up and throw it in the nearest tree, so it’s dangling there. It’s unsightly; it’s unnecessary. If people want to have a dog they should act responsibly.”

Rawcliffe Meadows is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its plant life, and for its population of critically endangered Tansy Beetles. Until August last year, Clifton Ings was the only place they could be found in the UK.

However, Rawcliffe Meadows is not a public park, so it doesn’t receive any funding, and has no resources to clear up after dog walkers.

Dr Phythian said: “We don’t have dog bins, because it’s a nature reserve. We don’t have paid staff to pick up detritus.”

On top of the unsightly aspect of the dog dirt, it also creates a health hazard, both for humans and livestock. Dr Phythian said that farmers in the area also complained about the dog mess.

Gary Kay, a farmer from Dunnington said that there was dog dirt on the Ings and Rawcliffe Meadow, left by people who let their dogs run all over.

He said: “When they’re out in the country people pick up the poo and chuck it in the hedge. Dog muck in grass affects sheep as a worm can infect the sheep.”

A report from the National Farmers’ Union of Scotland (NFUS) found that 'there is growing evidence of the links between two specific diseases in livestock and the presence on grazing land of faeces from infected dogs'.

These two diseases are neosporosis, which can cause sudden abortions in cattle, and sarcocytosis, which can cause neurological damage and death in sheep. There is currently no vaccine for either of these diseases.

Dog dirt can also cause eutrophication, a process which may alter plant growth and encourage weeds. In the long term, this could lead to the loss of the very rare habitat around the Clifton Ings.