SIR - What on earth is M Smith bleating on about? Talk about missing the point. Perhaps their dog wrote the letter. Simple fact I have yet to hear of anyone suffering blindness from the common cold passed human to human, yet it is a fact that, especially children, can suffer blindness from the effects of dog excrement amongst a number of other potentially serious illnesses.

Maybe a human version of dog flu is on its way, but, until then, we are left with their faeces courtesy of the....I will let you choose your description of these type of owners

I take my son to play football at the Sidford pitch. Without fail, there are numerous areas of dog excrement on the pitch to spoil our enjoyment. Go down on any evening at 5.30 the owners have arrived home, the dogs have been locked up, all or most of the day its been hanging on for hours, immediately off the leash with the owner conveniently looking anywhere but where their dog is and there is your excrement again. You make your choice of whether the larger amount is on the pitch or walking the dog!!

This is the problem we have with dogs and their owners except the socially responsible are sometimes hard to spot, they don’t wear signs, so we look at them all with suspicion which admittedly isn’t fair at all, but then neither is treading inevitably in the muck. You see, playing sports means you watch the ball, monitoring the ground as you run shouldn’t enter into it.

It is socially unacceptable as it would be if I defecated on your lawn every time I went out. So just pick it up, your animal did it. If you don’t like it, you shouldn’t have a dog in the same way you should reconsider if you can’t be bothered to take it for a proper walk after it’s been locked up all day, every day. The 20% persistent offenders (you know who you are) spoil it for all. The darker evenings only worsen the problem.

Perhaps if I follow M Smith’s distinctly Sidmothian viewpoint then, perhaps, dog owners should stay in and then you can use your gardens in the same way you use the public areas. No doubt you wouldn’t leave it in your garden very long, and then the rest of us wanting sporting recreation or even a walk won’t have to meander around the dog muck you think is acceptable to leave around various areas every time you venture out with your dog

G Mitchell

Jubilee Gardens

Sidmouth