'Dog poo ninja' has taken to the streets in battle over fouling

A shadowy figure has been creeping, very carefully, around the streets of Basildon, Essex, at night. Operating in silence, except for an occasional hissing sound, this real-life superhero has just one purpose - to protect residents from the dangers of dog mess. Anthony Harvey, 29, decided to become a self-styled “dog poo ninja” after getting fed up with the fouling outside his house. The engineer is now using red spray paint to draw red circles around danger spots.



He said: “We only moved to the property two or three months ago and faeces are constantly being left outside. And it’s not just my house, it’s the whole street. It seems to get worse every week. It’s not like this is a horrible area or anything. I called the council out and they cleaned it off, but they didn’t do a very good job and there were still bits of mess. The worker told me if I keep making calls they will put me down as a nuisance caller.



“I was so frustrated thought I would get the spray paint out to highlight the problem. The missus said I should do a few more so now I am the dog poo ninja.” Mr Harvey, who is a dog owner himself, said marking out the mess was not only to shame owners but also to warn pedestrians they might be about to step in something nasty. He said: “I can understand people being caught out without a bag. But if that happens you go and get one, you don’t just leave it there for someone else to deal with. People just don’t have the respect these days.



“We know it’s the same few dogs as well because they are all roughly the same size- some are massive. It’s not a fox or anything like that. I’m sure there are people in my road who are just as angry as me. But I’ve also done it because if people are walking in the dark, home from school with their children or home from work, this will make it stand out. Maybe it’s an idea that the council can use. Maybe there needs to be an accepted symbol, a circle or a triangle, to warn people.” Mr Harvey said the spray paint washes off with water so he is not doing any permanent damage. He said: “It’s not graffiti, it’s a public service.”