CRAVEN schoolchildren are being asked to get busy with their cameras or smartphones and come up with a video educating people about responsible dog ownership and picking up after their pets.

The video competition is open to all primary school children in Craven and joint organisers, Craven District Council and The Dogs Trust, are hoping for some clever short films which will hammer the message home.

Children can create animations or film themselves, and entries need to be submitted by the end of the month.

The winners will receive £200 for their school, plus individual prizes for the children.

The competition is part of a recent partnership between the council and the charity which is including a series of visits to primary schools. Children are given the chance to meet one of the rescue dogs saved by the charity, and to ask questions. They are also taught how to stay safe around dogs, the potential problems of dog fouling, and the importance of clearing up after pets.

Clean neighbourhood officers from the council have been making the round of schools with the charity’s community and education officer, Laura-Jane Muscroft.

Wayne Gray, the council’s environmental health officer, said: “We know families and children feel strongly about dog fouling and we have been making huge efforts to crack down on this issue in recent years.

“The children we have spoken to during the assemblies have been really passionate about this issue so we hope they will be able to produce some great videos to help educate others.”

Laura-Jane added: “As we know children are like sponges. They can soak in as much information as possible which sticks, and then go home and tell their families about the messages they learnt in school, which is what we want.

“We hope this video competition will help us get the message across to the wider community and encourage more people to be responsible with their pets.”

Videos should be no more than three minutes long, and may be shared on the council’s social media channels. The competition deadline is Friday, June 29 and files can be sent via wetransfer to comms@cravendc.gov.uk

To find out more about the education programmes run by the Dogs Trust, go to www.learnwithdogstrust.org.uk