Yes, the Salobreña Town Hall kicks off spring with a campaign to remind dog owners, whose mutts liberally lace the town with poop, that it’s a no-no.

Culprits range from those that throw their dog out in the morning with the instructions, “don’t come back until you’re empty,” to those that flash a doggy-poop bag when witnesses are nearby, yet stoop and don’t scoop, returning home with an unblemished bag and an unloaded mutt.

No, Ladies and Gentlemen, why should pedestrians have to play hopscotch along the paseo in order not to end up with an undercoat on their shoes just so some dog owner does not have to make the acquaintance of his pooch’s post-digestive breakfast output?

Buy a smaller dog! Feed your existing one on boiled rice for life so that whatever does come out of its furtive anus retains a graspable form that requires only the briefest contact!

If all else fails, get yourself a cat and train it to bark and fetch your slippers – nobody complains about cat droppings and moggies invariable sneak out in the wee hours to defecate when there are no witnesses!

Anyway, back to the official campaign… 5th and 6th-grade schoolchildren in Salobreña, Lobres and La Caleta have been encouraged through a drawing competition to come up with a poster design and 6th-grade pupil Alba Gutiérrez Ege at Colegio Mayor Zaragoza won it.

Furthermore, the following slogan has been adopted: Tu pueblo limpio, tu calle limpia, tus pasos limpios, thought up by 6th-grade pupil, Ahinara Rodríguez Martínez from the same school.

The idea, of course, is to indoctrinate… sorry, teach, kids to rebuke their errant parents if they see them neglecting to pick up their pet’s excrement.

Joking aside, publicity companies know that the best way into consumer homes is via kids, “Mum, buy me such-and-such – I saw it on the telly!” So, if you want to get the message across, send it home with the kids.

(News: Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)