Some of you may remember my previous post on doggy do. As others have rightly pointed out, it’s not just a Quillan issue, nor necessarily a French issue, and there are undoubtedly worse places for it than here. But there’s plenty of it here.

I knew it was not just me, when I saw that one French inhabitant had gone to the trouble of placing a handmade sign on the fence bordering her property. It took me a while to photograph this as I didn’t want to be too obtrusive, but every time I passed, she was out in her garden – keeping the boundary under surveillance?

I recently heard that the newly elected mayor was making it his first act in office to clamp down on doggy do-ers. Hurrah! Good on the man for doing something about it. But I had my doubts about whether we’d see any action.

Well what should I spy when I was out for a walk today? Three men and a truck, installing doggy bins with bags at strategic sites around the old town, including one outside the Mairie, one by the church and one on our square. NIce one.

That said, as I walked home, I saw a large pile of fresh dung within 20 metres of the freshly installed bin, and coming down the rue de l’Eglise I watched as an inhabitant on a side street opened her door, let her dog out for its constitutional (off the leash of course), then shut the door behind it on the way back in.

Could be a while before we see a difference, but at least it’s a start. I hope they fine the pants of the culprits as part of the enforcement.