New for 2025, the Trust is joining forces with the Verderers, the New Forest National Park Authority and Forestry England to support “Bag it – Bin it”, a major campaign to encourage responsible dog ownership and asking those who don’t already, to pick up poo.
“We believe most dog owners are responsible, and part of that is picking up their poo,” says Oliver Crosthwaite-Eyre, former Chairman of the National Park, who chairs the special dog action group. “But a lot of owners don’t and you only have to look around car parks to see the piles of disgusting poo. It’s a health risk, it harms the forest, and can affect the enjoyment of many people. The answer is so simple – pick up poo, bag it, and bin it.”
The campaign will include posters in places used by dog owners such as vets’ surgeries and traders; leaflets to be given out to forest users; special displays to be used at shows and forest car park events; and the purchase of 6000 bags to give away.
“One of the myths we’d like to dispel is that of the poo fairy,” says Heather Gould, Co-Chair of the New Forest Dog Owners Group. “Why some people do the right thing and bag their dog’s poo, but then hang it in a bushor a tree, is beyond us. Please, bag poo, and take it to a bin, either in a car park or at home where it can go in the general waste.”
A further reason for the campaign is to counter the risk of disease. Several diseases can be passed to humans through dog poo, such as Toxicara which is a roundworm infection. There is also a potential risk to cattle from Neospora being passed through dog poo to roaming cattle and causes cows to abort prematurely. Finally, there’s increasing evidence that the currently high level of foxes, which also spread disease, is in part due to dog poo, which they eat when other food is short.