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13 Oct 2025
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13 Oct 2025
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The dog waste bags filled with sand strewn along the N80 road in Mountmellick. Images: Mountmellick Tidy Towns
Dog poo bags from a dispenser at a Laois town park were turned into frightening missiles across the busy N80 road last weekend.
Dozens of the free Mutt Mitt bags were found filled with sand, smashed along the road past Mountmellick's public playground in Irishtown, on the national route from Portlaoise to Tullamore.
It took place some time before 9pm on Friday evening, June 27.
The incident has been condemned by Mountmellick Tidy Towns volunteers, who say they now must take away the dispenser altogether from the popular walking route.
Chairperson Maura Reddin spoke to the Leinster Express / Laois Live.
"It's very disappointing. They must have been throwing them at one another from one side of the road to the other. That is a busy N80 route, how more dangerous could that be? Traffic is gone up to 15,000 vehicles a week now. It could have caused an accident. A driver would get a terrible land. It's so serious," Ms Reddin said.
A video of the vandalism taken by Mountmellick Tidy Towns.
"Unfortunately we have to move the dispenser to another location. Hopefully it might have been seen on some of our CCTV cameras," she said.
The dispensers are a vital tool in keeping the footpaths clean of dog waste.
"I think they are worth it, it was definitely worse before we got them. But no matter how many boxes you put up, some owners will walk their dogs whether they are small or large and not pick it up," the Tidy Towns chair said.
Read also: American visitors from Laois sister city in Tennessee touring county
The group of volunteers only discovered the mess on Saturday morning as they met after their weekly environmental clean up of the town, which could be judged any time by this year's national Tidy Towns competition judges.
Anyone who has information on the incident is asked to contact the Mountmellick Tidy Towns Facebook page.
Mountmellick has over 15 Mutt Mitt bag dispensers, funded through Laois County Council’s environment department. There are over 100 of them in towns and villages around the county.
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