Dog poo: Aberdare girl makes bag dispensers to fight mess

An eight-year-old girl has taken it upon herself to tackle dog waste by making bag dispensers from recycled milk bottles.

Sofia, from Aberdare, rode through some mess on her scooter while out with her friend and said she did not want other children to do the same.

She has been distributing bags to pick up the mess and wants dog walkers to follow suit and replace the bags.

She said people leaving mess were "just dirty" and that there was "no excuse".

The dispensers are made from cleaned plastic milk bottles and cable ties with the bags pushed inside.

Sofia and her mother Elise have been attaching them to lamp-posts with a note to encourage people to pick up mess and to refill the dispensers.

Sofia has made about 20 dispensers so far, working after school and on the weekends with her mother and grandmother.

"There was a lot of poo and people don't care about it - they just leave it or sometimes when they let their dog off the lead people don't know that they've had a poo so that's why I wanted these too," she said.

Sofia - owner of a fish and a tortoise - wants people to be more responsible with their pets.

"Pick up your dog poo and put it in the bin. If it is too far away that is no excuse just to leave it," she said.

Sofia has now made a video about how to make the dispensers after getting requests from people wanting to do the same in their communities.

Elise said she was "super proud" her daughter had taken the initiative to improve her community but she does feel a lack of bins is still a problem.

"It is frustrating that an eight-year-old has had to do something like this but the amount of comments and messages I have had, it was so needed," she said.

"Hopefully other people in other little towns and villages can add to what we've done now.

"It's an excuse to go for a walk and we've met loads of people out and about and everybody seems to be really happy with them, people have even messaged for us to put them on certain streets so it has made a difference already," she said.

A Rhondda Cynon Taf council spokeswoman said it had more than 1,000 dog waste bins, many on key dog-walking routes.

"The council also has a strict public spaces protection order (PSPO) in place to ensure dog owners act responsibly or face a £100 fine," she said, adding that five dog walkers had been given fines in the previous week.

"It's really positive to hear that Sofia is joining in the fight against dog waste and that it has received positive feedback - keep up the good work," she said.

Councillor Steve Bradwick said he would nominate Sofia for next year's local Love Where You Live award.

The chairman of the Rhondda Cynon Taf public service committee deals with dog mess as part of his mandate - and even has one of Sofia's inventions outside his house.

"I'm 100% behind her," he said. "You can put out a hundred bins but people need to be picking it up. It is really frustrating.

"Kids get a bashing a lot and it is a fantastic invention. I hope to see her on Dragons' Den in a few years' time."