Thank you for Robert Hanks's article (Tyranny of a dog's turds, 24 March) – something close to my shoe if not my heart. I live in a beautiful area, which is a mecca for dog walkers. I love dogs, and were it not for my two catty companions I'd probably have one, so I can sympathise with the embarrassment and inconvenience of walking along with a plastic bag of warm poo. I appreciate my neighbours who do take the effort to collect and dispose of their doggy poo, but I am fast turning into a grumpy old woman about the ones who don't bother. I have grandchildren. Little kids don't stick to the path, so the flick stick doesn't always do the business.
But I do have a solution, and one that a friend has taken up with enthusiasm. Why not wear a mini backpack (or bum bag depending on the size of your pooch) with a tight-shutting plastic box inside to put the bags in, then dispose of the poo at home in your bin? My friend says it works brilliantly and showed off her new grey canvas bum bag with great pride as she passed by yesterday. I contend that if the less convinced dog walkers would only think of the waste as human poo being dropped around the neighbourhood, they'd be a lot more careful to pick up, and the Mirey Brook at the bottom of the valley would be a lot cleaner, as would my carpets.
Mary Horsley
Nailsworth, Gloucestershire
• Robert Hanks did not mention an odd habit of many dog walkers. I often walk on the Peak District moors and am astonished at the number of knotted plastic bags with dog mess that are thrown down by the side of the path or hung from a fence or bush. What good does it do to leave these offerings for weeks or months to rot down? Taking the dog off the path into the surrounding vegetation and leaving the result there would be better than that. Existing insects and processes will get rid of it. Take the bags away or bin them, certainly, but please don't leave the present array of unpleasant offerings.
David Gregory
Sheffield