A council has defended featuring pictures of dog poo in its calendar as a ‘necessary part of its campaign against anti-social behaviour’.
Richmondshire DC said it had not wished to cause offence in its choice of images for May, June and November after 78-year-old resident Anne Simpson complained.
Ms Simpson told her local paper: ‘A colourful picture illustrates each month - January is a Christmas tree, February there are pink hearts, March an old sofa, April has cute bunnies and Easter eggs.
‘So far so good so I thought I would have a peek at May’s offering - I was greeted by a large dog turd.’
The council’s corporate director Colin Dales said: ‘While not wishing to cause offence to any residents via the messages in the calendar, this particular resident query clearly shows that the calendars are being used and read, which was our key objective.
‘I appreciate that not everyone wants to look at a picture of dog fouling but we need our message and associated campaigns to be hard-hitting in order to get the message across to anti-social residents and visitors that their behaviour will not be tolerated.’
