I spent the day in Norbury Park today with farmers trying to understand the challenges facing them and one such challenge was the increasing risk of a bovine illness which can be spread via dog faeces through a parasite - it is called neospora. It is why it is so important to clean up your dog's poo and also not then leave the plastic bag hanging on a tree or on the path. Where dog walkers go across rights of ways and alongside farms the issues associated with neospora have been increasing and the outcomes of it are tragic. Often infected cows abort their calves. Today as we got the cows in we saw one in distress and on closer inspection we found that she had aborted twins, perfect little creatures dead in the grass. This meant a very sad cow and a significant loss to a farmer who is trying to do the right thing by having his cows out grazing on the land.
Some actions I will take:
1. Will discuss better fencing with the farmers and Surrey County Council to try to stop dogs straying into fields with livestock
2. Will look at having a Dog Code which we could set some really clear messaging to dog owners who are probably not aware of some of the issues around farm animals including livestock worrying.
3. Will look at how we get better provision of dog poo bins across the countryside.
In the meanwhile please spread the message that dog poo can led to poor health and even death of livestock and it is important to pick it up.
