Discontented residents of a UK village have created a "poo-shaming" map to discourage dog owners from leaving their animals' excrement in public areas.
ADVERTISEMENTIn a bid to stop dog fouling in their community the parishioners of a UK village created an interactive map, logging sites where excrement had been found.
The initiative allows residents of Wimblington, Cambridgeshire, to report sightings of dog poo on social media using the hashtag "#doodoowatch," which are then logged on the interactive map or "Poopfolio".
They can even send a picture to be uploaded, which can be viewed by pressing the poo emoji that signals the location of the excrement.
The district council is also alerted to the mess and once they or have disposed of it, the emoji turns pink.
Amanda Carlin, Business and Community Leader in Wimblington and one of the founders of the operation, told Euronews their message to dog owners was simple: "Please pick up after your pets."
"This is a community-led solution to a horrible problem and it is bringing us all together," she said, adding the response to Doodoowatch "has been very positive".
If owners are caught letting their dog foul without picking it up they are issued with an on-the-spot fine of £75 (€84).
The enterprise gained publicity after it was picked up by national media,
"I can't quite believe the media attention, but ever so grateful it has got the message out there to anyone that might have missed it, because this has been a purely social media led initiative," said Carlin.
Such is the success of the Poopfolio that the team has been asked for help tackling the issue of dog fouling by councils across the UK and beyond.
One request came in from as far away as Kuwait, with Carlin labelled "astounding".
"We're very pleased with that and to be able to help other communities as well as our own," she said.
The real-time, interactive Poopfolio can be seen here.