Francesca Louise Sara Lewis, 26, took her son, Riley Jacques, for a walk at Conisbrough Castle on Sunday February 28. Another single parent, who is in Ms Lewis’s support bubble, was also walking with her child. Whilst on the walk, Riley fell over, cut his lip and had dog poo on his hands, face and in his mouth.
Ms Lewis told YorkshireLive: “We left our house at 10am and had a slow walk down to Conisbrough Castle to let my son, and a neighbour’s child, out for a walk and a bit of freedom as the weather was nice.
“We walked down Old Road with the pavements covered in dog faeces dodging our prams out of the way of it.
“Once we arrived at the castle we let our children go out to explore the castle grounds.
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“Riley Jacques was walking towards the gate entrance that allows you straight onto the castle grounds and he stumbled. He has only been walking since November so is still getting his bearings.
“I went over to pick him up and noticed his hands were covered in dog poo so went to go and grab baby wipes and went back to clean his hands.
“I noticed it was all over his mouth, chin, lips and inside his mouth. Due to coronavirus, the toilets on the castle grounds were shut so I had no access to freshwater to clean him down properly.
“So, I had to use baby wipes and hand sanitiser. I used a baby wipe in his mouth and noticed blood, he had cut the inside of his mouth while falling.”
Ms Lewis said that issues with dog poo are a frequent occurrence in her area. She said: “Every single day without fail, walking to the shop or trying to go out somewhere when the weather is nice, the amount of dog poo I have to dodge is unbelievable.
“It makes me not want to take my child out to play because our field and play areas for our children are full of dog mess.
“If you can’t take on the responsibility of a dog and cleaning up after them then you shouldn’t own one.”
Additional reporting by Danielle Hoe.
