WE dog owners/walkers do not normally get involved in these discussions in the newspapers; but this time I thought it was time to get involved.

First of all, I agree wholeheartedly with the young mum whose child was plastered in dog mess. What a horrid experience. It is totally irresponsible not to pick up after your dog in a built up area, park or recreation area.

I used to feel the same way when I would get regular, fresh deposits of horse droppings on the pavement outside my bungalow when I lived in a village. I refused to clean up after a time, but then felt so sorry for the young mums trying to steer pushchairs and the older ones trying to push their trolleys past the droppings without ending up in the road.

Unfortunately, you will never get everyone to comply with laws or even requests. If you could, the prisons would be empty!

However, when we get to Whitchurch Down, Plaister Down and the moors themselves; it is a completely different matter. You cannot make many steps without coming into contact with excrement of some sort — animal or human. Why is dog excrement so much worse? If she feels that it is so terrible, I am surprised that Mrs Trew owns a dog (Letters, January 19). I will give two visions.

First of all, you pick up your dog's excrement in a plastic bag and take it home. Once there it goes in at least one more plastic bag to be put out for the binmen (I used three!). This then goes to landfill where it marries up with lots of other plastic bags containing dog excrement. It takes somewhere in the region of 100 years for these plastic bags to rot enough to release trapped methane, which pollutes the atmosphere and causes global warming. Pretty bad, huh?

Now, if you leave the excrement where it is, mingling with sheep, cattle, pony, fox, badger, mouse, rat, bird, human, etc excrement; it will start to degrade immediately and within a week to ten days, it would have melted into the earth as fertiliser to help the grass grow to feed the sheep, cattle, ponies, etc. I know which vision I prefer.

So, if you see me on Whitchurch Down (I walk a pack of five), please do not offer me a plastic bag. You would find my response offensive!

Terry Hillman

Princetown Road

Tavistock