A FATHER has condemned a neighbourhood watch that names and shames irresponsible dog owners for being a "menace to the community".
John Crosbie, who lives with his young family in Mayland, is furious after he claims members of the Dengie Dog Poo Neighbourhood Watch printed his address on their facebook group falsely alleging he had failed to clean up after his German Shepherd Simba.
The IT director was told his details had been made public on Sunday (April 28) as part of a 'hoax' and immediately contacted police.
"By the time I was notified by a friend, members of the Facebook group had begun making aggressive and false allegations," said Mr Crosbie.
"People were being encouraged to behave in this way, it created a witch-hunt.
"One lady showed up at my address to say how uncomfortable she was with the situation, but it could just as easily have been a parent whose child was blinded by dog poo, or a brick through my window – I'm absolutely livid."
The group, which has nearly 600 members, was created by 49-year-old Andy Turfkruyer to identify those in the district who failed to clean up after their dogs.
Members are encouraged to post photos or details of incidents on the group's facebook page to shame them into picking up after their pets but Andy, who lives in Burnham, is now re-thinking this approach.
"It is not the policy of the group to print the addresses of people and as soon as I realised those kind of details were mentioned in a discussion I deleted the posts," he told the Chronicle.
"Mr Crosby was not named on the facebook page until he identified himself and had a rant – the majority of members did not know who he was until that point.
"It turns out the original allegation came from a case of 'frape' and it has made me seriously re-think the 'naming and shaming'. I've realised I could be given false information and I don't want to tarnish anyone's reputation."
Frape is a term used to describe when someone hacks into another's facebook account and posts messages as that person.
Although the stream was removed from the page, Mr Crosbie is now considering taking legal action.
"It turned out that the allegations were a big hoax from some young people who had tried to wind up members of the group," Mr Crosbie added.
"I have young children at primary and this could have led to bullying. Those responsible should be taken to task."
A police spokesperson said: "We have received a complaint about a Facebook group which is alleged to have been publishing personal details of people in connection with dog fouling.
"A police officer will be in contact with the informant to discuss the issue. We understand the informant has been in contact with Facebook and has had information removed from the group."
