Tot smeared fox mess "all over her face"
A TODDLER was left with animal faeces smeared all over her face after using the children's play area at a garden centre.
Two-year-old Jasmine Westgate was playing in the sandpit at Highfield Garden World in Whitminster when she put her hands in a pile of fox mess.
The centre has said it will consider closing its sandpit following the incident, which saw the innocent youngster of Up Hatherley, proceeded put her dirty fingers to her face and in her mouth.
Jasmine's father Bruce said he was "disgusted" by the incident, which took place on Sunday, and says it may have led to E.coli or even blindness.
The 43-year-old, a martial arts instructor, said: "It was absolutely vile. Jasmine didn't know what she was doing and ended up with fox mess all over her face.
"She ingested some of it too which could have had harmful consequences. There are potentially life-ruining diseases linked with coming into contact with animal faeces.
"The sandpit shouldn't have been left in such a state. It obviously hadn't been cleaned properly by staff."
Mr Westgate said he and his family had planned to stay at the garden centre for lunch. But when he discovered what had happened he rushed his daughter home to clean her up.
He said: "I have lodged a complaint with officials at the garden centre. If a play area is open to members of the public then you have to look after it better than that.
"It was a very unpleasant experience and I wouldn't wish it on anyone else's children."
Staff at Highfield Garden World, which offers a range of activities for children, said the sandpit was now out of use until further notice.
Managing director Joan Greenway said: "We would like to apologise to the Westgates for what happened.
"We clean and inspect the sandpit every day during the week, although not on weekends.
"We are surrounded by countryside and a fox must have come during the night. We might well have to close the sandpit because of this, which is a shame because youngsters will miss it. But we can't let this kind of thing happen again."
26 Comments
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by foxy roxy, Glawster
Wednesday, September 23 2009, 1:45PM
“Bet miss trumpletrumps poo does not smell.”
by Stan, Quedgeley
Wednesday, September 23 2009, 1:43PM
“I think it was more likely something that was under Madeline Templetons nose myself.”
by Anon, Cheltenham
Wednesday, September 23 2009, 12:57PM
“This sounds disgusting. Fox poo really does smell vile and even worse than dog poo - it is quite distinctive. I dont know the family nor have i ever been to that garden centre but i do think that if the garden centre provides a play area for young children they should make sure there is no animal poo in it. Surely that makes sense. Yes you should keep an eye on toddlers at all time but I would expect if a sandpit is there for them to play in there wouldnt be poo in it.”
by A, Gloucester
Wednesday, September 23 2009, 12:49PM
“Well said, Matt, Cheltenham. There really is nothing else to add to that, other than the child was obviously playing with the stuff for longer than just a few seconds to have smeared it everywhere as well as eating it. My question is how long the parents had left the child unattended or unmonitored while they were chatting or otherwise occupied elsewhere?”
by Matt, Cheltenham
Wednesday, September 23 2009, 12:37PM
“OK, there shouldn't be faeces in a children's sand pit, anywhere, but animals will do "their business" where they chose, so there's a limit on what you can do to stop them fouling. Where though has it been confirmed that this incident was indeed fox faeces - it could have been a cat, dog, badger, any number of other animals.
I also agree with other comments left about the parents supervising their own children whilst using a play area - surely the parents should check that play areas are safe for their children to use before letting them do so. In which case why didn't Mr. Westgate spot the faeces himself before his daughter got anywhere near it?? The garden centre has a duty of care to protect it's customers, but parents also have a duty of care to protect their children, and this must be even more the case when it involves letting your own children use a public facility, such as this one.”