THE comment on views from the web that the risks from dog fouling are very low does not mean it is negligible.

Some years ago I had a neighbour who was a biologist whose speciality was parasites.

He had a dog which he monitored regularly for toxocara canis, the parasite which can indeed cause blindness as well as other problems.

More tellingly he would not let his children play in a sand-pit because of the risk of picking up the related toxacara cati from sand contaminated by cats. The eggs of both forms of the worms can live for a considerable time in the ground and can easily be picked up by children.

Dog owners can and should be held accountable for the mess they leave, should the law be extended to cats?

Howard Cogan

Portland Road

Wyke Regis