A weekly newspaper in Kent has launched a fight against irresponsible dog owners with their own secret weapon – Scoop the dog.

The KM Group-owned Kentish Gazette’s courageous canine wants to help clean up Canterbury’s pavements, parks and play areas and leave them faeces-free.

Scoop has been inundated with messages of support for his Pick Up The Poo campaign via his own email account and twitter feed @Scoop_The_Dog.

“I have always said the holy trinity of local newspapers are stories about rubbish collections, parking or traffic and dog poo because, other than horrible crimes and horror crashes, that’s what readers really care about,” said editor Leo Whitlock.

“We’re now putting my theory to the test but we’ve not been surprised by the reaction so far.

“Scoop is a bit of fun but there is a serious message. Our local council spends £10,000 a year to man a machine that cost £19,000 to buy and picks up 5,200 litres of dog poo a year.

“In the age of austerity, we are subsidising the lazy so-and-sos who simply can’t be bothered to clean up after their pets.”

Scoop also told Kentish Gazette readers that dog fouling was disgusting and it was “sheer laziness” not to clear up the mess.

“It’s a menace, it’s dangerous and is a prime example of anti-social behaviour,” he wrote.

“We have to take action to stop people stepping in the poisonous piles that blight this area.”

Scoop is urging irresponsible dog owners to clean up the mess

The campaign has been backed by Canterbury City Council who let Scoop drive their dog mess cleaning machine Fido this week and Swale Borough Council which covers the Faversham area.

Stories have appeared in the Kentish Gazette and its sister paid fors the Whitstable Gazette, Herne Bay Gazette and Faversham News, in the free Canterbury Extra paper and online.