Dog walkers urged to join re-launched Skipton Dog Watch scheme
Police in Skipton are re-launching a successful canine crime-fighting initiative to improve the quality of life of residents in the town.
Dog Watch is a scheme which uses people walking their dogs as the 'eyes and ears' of the police, for example to help identify vital witnesses or find missing people. It is being re-launched at an event in Skipton to sign up more members.
PCSO Amy Sharrad, from Skipton Police, will be at the Greatwood & Horseclose Community Centre in Skipton from 1pm on Tuesday 2 June 2015, as part of an event to help promote the scheme.
PCSO Sarah Hargreaves, who set up the original scheme in Skipton in 2012, said: "I set up Dog Watch as a 'Neighbourhood Watch' for dog walkers. They are out and about at all times of day and night and so they can become our eyes and ears - for example, if police are looking for a missing person, we can circulate a message round members to keep an eye out whilst they are walking their dogs."
Stacey Reffin, of Safer Craven Partnership, said: "Safer Craven supports this Watch scheme as it provides members of the public an opportunity to feed information into the police. Dog walkers are often out early and last thing at night anyway, so it makes sense to tap into the 'natural surveillance' that they can offer. It is often the eyes and ears of the community that provide a snippet of information that can lead us to piecing together the bigger picture of an incident. The smallest observation can often be a very useful piece of the jigsaw."
The event at the community centre will also promote Green Dog Walkers - a pledge for owners to clean up after their dogs.
Karen McIntyre, Community Development Advisor at Yorkshire Housing, said: "Green Dog Walkers is a friendly, non-confrontational way to change attitudes about dog fouling issues in your area. Residents are encouraged to sign up to the Green Dog Walkers pledge which means they will always clean up after their dog, and always carry extra dog bags."
Residents who signed up to the pledge will receive a free Green Dog Walkers collar or lead which will Identify their pet as part of the Green Dog Walkers group.
You can find out more about Skipton Police by following their Twitter account @Skipton_Police. You can also follow the work of PCSOs Sharrad and Hargreaves at @PCSOAmySharrad and @SarahHargreav10 respectively.
