Working Together

The most effective approach to litter prevention is to get all the key players, both within council and the community, involved as early as possible in the planning and development of your integrated program. The wider the ownership of the program the greater the support.

Involve relevant council members

It is very important to involve all parts of the council that have a role in planning, communicating and enforcing the dog poo program. This extends beyond the local laws officers to areas such as:

• Waste and street cleaning managers (who clean the streets and empty the bins).
• Parks & open space (do they have the appropriate bins?).
• Planning (approving new developments - do they include areas for dogs & bins?).
• Engineering (who buy the bins).
• Public relations and communications (help in educating the community and council).
• Councillors (is there a councillor with a passion for dog poo?).
• Customer service (who receive complaints about dogs and poo).
• Executive management (who determine the priorities and the budget). 

Some councils have developed cross-council planning teams to ensure maximum output for their efforts. Does your council have an existing litter prevention task force? Is the person at council in charge of the budget involved in the decision-making for the program?

Involve the community

Once solid cross-council communication and program implementation is established, expand this way of working to the community:

• Involve existing dog clubs.
• Support the establishment of a dog club based around a park or popular dog walking area.
• Approach the local vets for support, sponsorship and involvement.
• Ask the pet shops how they could help.
• Can the boarding kennels contribute in any way or distribute your materials?
• Approach the local media to print articles or run a competition.  

Developing partnerships for the program brings a range of resources that would usually be beyond the capacity of council, such as sponsorship, in-kind sponsorship, foot soldiers in the campaign (or poo police) and a range of other knowledge, experience and expertise.

Approach businesses that are not pet-related as they might be keen advocates in helping keep the shopping strip clean.  

Don't forget the power of 'word of mouth', also known as 'shaming' in the dog poo field, to encourage behaviour change!