This ‘eco-dog’ is helping to clean litter and plastic off the streets by collecting hundreds of plastic bottles during his daily walks. Scruff is a 13-year-old border collie and has become quite popular among residents.

Source: SWNS/YouTube

Scruff’s pawrents, David Grant and Yvonne Faulkner-Grant adopted Scruff in 2009, and he always liked to play. He loved sticks, but he particularly began to love playing with bottles.

Then, in 2021, David and Yvonne noticed that on their walks, Scruff had a fascination for plastic bottles. He would pick one up and carry it until he found another.

“It seemed wrong that he would pick the bottle up and then drop it again—we thought people would think we were dropping litter,” said Yvonne. “So we got him to start bringing the bottles to us and we put them in a bag and then count them up at the end of the walk.”

In 2022, they began to count the bottles, and Scruff has now retrieved over 1,000 bottles this year. The couple began to share the pet’s recycling habits.

“We get such a good reaction on Facebook where Scruff has been dubbed an eco-dog,” said Yvonne. “People have said he should be working for the council, and everybody loves it when they see him in the street,” said David. “He is such an obedient dog and very friendly—your typical sheepdog. He never chews the bottles or the lids he just [wanted] to play.”

“Now, he seems to go out looking for them on walks.”

They are currently storing all of the bottles from the year, and on New Years’, the couple will do a big count. In 2023, they plan to recycle the bottles at the end of every month instead.

“Sometimes he collects 15 and sometimes it’s only one—it depends how dirty the streets are that day,” said David. “Someone said to me the other day that not all heroes wear capes and that is exactly what I think Scruff is doing—being a hero.”

“If a dog can do it anyone can.”

We love Scruff and all that he is doing to help clean up his community!

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