PRESENTATION Secondary School students are calling for an end to owners not picking up after their dog has done its dirty work in public areas.

The transition year class have started the campaign ‘If Your Dog Poops, You Scoop’.

The aim is to promote the picking up of dog waste and to have more dog waste bins available in Tralee.

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The class also hope that the project will inform people about the environmental dangers of dog waste.

The idea for the campaign came about after science teacher, Rita O’Donoghue, took her students on a stroll by the Lee Valley Walkway, which runs along the back of Fels Point and the Aqua Dome.

“As we walked every ten steps there was a pile of dog waste,” said Presentation student, Emma Sheehy.

“We thought it was a big problem so we looked into it, first we emailed the council about a dog waste warden and we got no direct reply”.

“We then looked around and found there isn’t a lot of bins in the park and not a lot along the canal either where most people walk their dogs”

This year, the council will spend over €150,000 on the dog warden service.

The money will go towards the cost of four dog wardens, a pound keeper and the operation of a dog shelter and pound in Tralee.

The girls are planning to have a meeting with the council about the relatively small amount of bins and issues around who is policing the areas so the area will be dog waste free.

An awareness day for the cause takes place next Friday, January 22. Where they will head into town and try to encourage owners to pick up after their dogs.

You can check out the Pres girls campaign on Facebook – HERE