SO Swindon Council is stepping up its fight against dog mess.

And quite right too. As a regular dog walker, I cannot for the life of me understand why people don’t pick up after their pets.

It’s easy, quick, and poo bags ensure you don’t risk getting, shall we say, too hands on.

Anyone who knows a dog will usually have countless poo bags in all kinds of places — in your handbag, your underwear drawer, your man drawer, in every pocket you have, piled up by the front door, stuffed into your bra (for days when you don’t have pockets — not as an alternative to chicken fillets)...

A friend of mine was about to go on stage with his band recently and, moments before, both he and the guitarist produced poo bags from their pockets. They really do get everywhere. So there is no excuse not to poop and scoop.

Although it has to be said, poo bags aren’t a great addition to the environment, regardless of the fact that they’re biodegradable.

In fact, Earl Bathurst, who owns large swathes of land around Cirencester, has banned them on his estate.

Instead, he has instigated a stick and flick policy — wherein you grab a stick and flick the offending matter into a nearby hedgerow where it will biodegrade naturally without the risk of ending up on the bottom of someone’s shoe.

I was quite impressed by this alternative approach, although my flicking left a lot to be desired and I was in danger at several points of ending up with more than egg on my face. It is a bit like playing a particularly unpleasant version of golf, particularly if your houndly chum has done has business a fair distance from the nearest hedgerow.

However, whichever method is preferred, the truth remains that to leave dog mess lying about is anti-social in the extreme. Anyone who leaves dog mess on the pavement or in the park or anywhere where people are likely to tread should absolutely find themselves on the receiving end of a £100 fine.

I hope the council will use the proceeds in a worthwhile way that will benefit the town at large.

Although I think we could turn it into a bit of fun at the same time by offering a prize to anyone whose dog produces some of that white poo that was so ubiquitous in the 1970s. Why do we never see that any more?

All you need is love to end this hatred

I HATE to bang on about this again, but it seems to be the issue du jour — terrorism and, on the back of that, the propensity of some people to descend into hatred of our fellow Brits who happen to be Muslim. Or worse, act on that hatred.

We have spoken to Ishak Mogul, the chairman of Swindon Muslim Council, on a couple of occasions recently, following the London Bridge attack and the attack on the mosque in Finsbury Park.

Mr Mogul speaks a great deal of good sense, mixed with compassion and wisdom, and we could do a lot worse than listen to him.

What a generous lot you are WHEN I arrived at our office in Victoria Road one morning last week, I thought there had been a mistake — and tutted loudly to myself.

I assumed people had rather dozily left their charity shop bin bags outside our office instead a few doors down at the Prospect Hospice shop.

Then I looked more closely. On top of them, labels had been attached which read: “For the Grenfell Tower victims”.

It was overwhelmingly touching. People had been some time during the night or early morning and, without fanfare or thanks, left items they thought could be of help to the people who had found themselves in a living nightmare.

And the donations continued to pile up in our reception — one of the more poignant was a little girl’s pink bike.

It was enough to move you to tears (I must admit to a small sniffle — I think I had something in my eye). So thank you to all the selfless, kind, generous people who brought items to the Adver to be passed on. It’s good to know you exist.

He said: “I hear people saying shut down mosques, stop Muslim immigration and so on. All that does is create more negativity. What you want to do is bring the people who can actually help the organisations on board...

“If you can prevent hatred from being implanted, you don’t need to have a cure for it.”

One person who really could do with a nice cuppa and a chat with Mr Mogul is Richard Gear Evans.

He is the son of the man whose van hire company hired a van to the man suspected of carrying out the mosque attack.

Evans wrote on social media: “It’s my dad’s company I don’t get involved, it’s a shame they don’t hire out a steam rollers or tanks, could have done a tidy job then.”

It seems as though the van driver responded to Islamic extremists’ acts of terrorism with hatred — and drove into a group of worshippers outside a London mosque. Then Evans responded to those actions with hatred — saying he wishes the results had been worse.

Somewhere down the line, we have to put a stop to this circle of bile.

Our emergency services are now in a state of, well, emergency, and this is not the time for hatred, mistrust and division. Anyone who is not a terrorist — and thankfully that is most of us — needs to stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow non-terrorists.

As Martin Luther King Jr said: Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

What a generous lot you are

WHEN I arrived at our office in Victoria Road one morning last week, I thought there had been a mistake — and tutted loudly to myself.

I assumed people had rather dozily left their charity shop bin bags outside our office instead a few doors down at the Prospect Hospice shop.

Then I looked more closely. On top of them, labels had been attached which read: “For the Grenfell Tower victims”.
It was overwhelmingly touching. People had been some time during the night or early morning and, without fanfare or thanks, left items they thought could be of help to the people who had found themselves in a living nightmare.
And the donations continued to pile up in our reception — one of the more poignant was a little girl’s pink bike.

It was enough to move you to tears (I must admit to a small sniffle — I think I had something in my eye). So thank you to all the selfless, kind, generous people who brought items to the Adver to be passed on. It’s good to know you exist.