Monty, a ‘Sprointer’ from Irvine, is the new four-legged ambassador for the west coast, as part of Keep Scotland Beautiful’s My Beach Your Beach campaign.

In this role, the beach loving dog will help promote responsible dog ownership, reminding other dog owners to make sure to always ‘bag it and bin it’ in order to keep the sand and sea clean for everyone to enjoy.

Monty’s owner, Karen Edgar, is an Irvine Clean Up Crew volunteer and Monty often helps out too, collecting plastic waste on walks.

Karen said: “Monty loves to visit our local beach to play on the sand and in the sea. Irvine beach is very popular with both dogs and people, so it’s important we all do our bit to keep it clean and tidy.

 

Monty the Irvine Beach Ambassor dog.

Monty the Irvine Beach Ambassor dog.

 

“We always make sure we have a supply of poo bags with us so that we can bag it and bin it. I’m delighted that Monty is going to be the My Beach Your Beach Doggy Ambassador and help other owners to remember to do the right thing.”

Monty will be used as part of the My Beach Your Beach campaign which encourages beach stewardship to support bathing water quality improvements at seven beaches in Scotland where this is a challenge. These beaches are Ayr, Troon, Irvine, Saltcoats and Ardrossan, Portobello, Fisherrow and Kinghorn.

Polling carried out by the charity in 2020 found that 51% of people at My Beach Your Beach campaign locations thought that dog poo was an issue at their local beach. Alongside this, SEPA has found that dog poo can have an impact on measures of bathing water quality.

Georgina Massouraki, campaigns officer, added: “We’re delighted that Monty will be helping us deliver the ‘bag it and bin it’ message for our My Beach Your Beach campaign on the west coast. The vast majority of dog owners are responsible so hopefully, a bit of peer pressure from a local pooch will help bring the rest on board to ensure that dog poo is never left on the beach or anywhere else.”

 

Monty the Irvine Beach Ambassor dog.

Monty the Irvine Beach Ambassor dog.

 

“We all have a part to play in keeping our bathing waters clean, to ensure a positive experience for locals and visitors alike.”

In addition to dog poo on the beach, My Beach Your Beach reminds beach goers to always put their litter in the bin or take it home. It also highlights habits indoors that can cause blocked pipes, impacting on the bathing water quality at some of Scotland’s most popular beaches.

My Beach Your Beach, funded by the Scottish Government and supported by SEPA, is led by Keep Scotland Beautiful and sits alongside the popular Upstream Battle® and Clean Up Scotland campaigns and annual Beach Awards.

Find out more about how you can get involved and contribute to the campaign on your local beach at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/mybeachyourbeach