Dog Poo Bags Thrown Into Beaver Pair's Shrewsbury Enclosure

Chloe Hughes

BBC News, West Midlands

Shropshire Wildlife Trust A beaver being released from a container in a forest. A woman is kneeling by the container. Other people wearing blue overalls are standing by the containers. There are two containers but only one beaver can be seen in the photo. — The Eurasian beavers were released into an enclosure at the Old River Bed in Shrewsbury in February

Dog owners in Shrewsbury have been throwing pets’ poo bags into an enclosure that houses a pair of Eurasian beavers, police have said.

The Old River Bed in the town is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and the beavers, which were brought down from Scotland in February, are in a fenced-in area.

Posting on West Mercia Police’s Neighbourhood Matters Page, PCSO Sarah Williams said the issue was “unacceptable” and anyone seen throwing bags over the fence would be “dealt with accordingly.”

“I really can’t see the logic – you’ve done the hard bit of picking it up, why don’t you just take it home?” said Helen Ball, Shrewsbury town clerk.

“It’s probably the usual dog walkers who are using the boardwalk as part of their daily route… picking up their dog mess but not actually carrying it home, and then just throwing it into the compound,” she said.

“It’s a Site of Special Scientific Interest in itself, let alone the fact that it’s got beavers.”

The beaver project is a significant one – it is the first time the rodents have lived in Shrewsbury for 400 years.

Ms Ball said a number of poo bags had been thrown into the enclosure over the past week, and she was considering allowing rangers to hand out fines if it continued.

Dog poo bags have been thrown over the fence into the enclosure, police said

Shropshire Wildlife Trust A wooden boardwalk with metal fencing on top of it, which leans over a wetland areas with brown trees, shrubs and grass. It stretches into the distance — Dog poo bags have been thrown over the fence into the enclosure, police said

“It may just be one person who thinks it’s an amusing thing to do, we don’t know – we’re just going to start to monitor it,” said Ms Ball.

“If need be, I might send the park rangers up there to do a little bit of education and awareness, and ultimately enforcement if it carries on.”

She said the bags were of concern, because anything new entering the compound would be of interest to the animals.

“We want to make sure they have as perfect a habitat as possible,” Ms Ball explained.

“Quite recently, Shropshire Council has renewed the dog control public space protection order for the whole of the county.

“Certainly in Shrewsbury, the town council says that we really want to play our part, and have staff who are trained to issue those fixed penalty notices.”

With the beavers’ return to the nature reserve, it is hoped the furry pair will maintain the site by controlling threats to the environment such as willow scrub, which dries out wetland habitats.

Source link