Dog walker's 'disgusting' claim about famous Aussie beach

A dog owner has been left 'gagging' on many occasions after taking her dogs on a walk around the famous beachside suburb.

A dog walker calls the situation in Bondi 'disgusting' (left) and the white dog covered in human poo (right).
Bondi is reportedly being plagued with a trail of human faeces in public areas. Source: TikTok

It's arguably the most iconic suburb in the country, and while Bondi is known as the poster child of the sought-after sun and surf Aussie lifestyle, recently rumours have circulated that it's also been known for its something smelly.

Both residents and visitors say they have been noticing human faeces hidden not so discretely beside gutters and in parks, leaving passersby with the simple question — why?

The issue has apparently become so bad that one dog owner explained she's been "left gagging" on many occasions as her two dogs continue to sniff out what she claims is human poo "like it's a delicacy" and will either eat it or roll around in it.

"Why are there so many sh**ters in Bondi?" the woman asked online. "The amount of times that I've had to clean human s**t from [my dog's] fur, like it's more than the fingers that I have on my two hands..."

Some locals are accusing runners who take to the area's coastal paths and trails early in the morning, with some suggesting a surge in the number of Sydneysiders taking to exercise, as run clubs sprout up around the city, so too have the faeces in Bondi.

"I have caught two people in Bondi doing this, both were runners... around 5 to 7am on the weekend on both occasions," one Aussie wrote, while another said it's a "common thing" in Bondi and called it "disgusting".

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While it's an open secret that running can cause alarmingly urgent bowel movements, blaming runners for the poo issue in Bondi is "unfair", said Tara Meakins, co-founder of Coogee Run Club, which is based only five kilometres along the coast from Bondi. She says people shouldn't be so quick to assume runners are responsible.

"I can see the link, people have those kinds of issues when they're running marathons and need to go to the bathroom in a hurry," she said. "People aren't typically having these kinds of issues when they're going for a few kilometres run around the Eastern Suburbs."

Olympic marathon runner Paula Radcliffe, who won the London Marathon in 2005, infamously defecated by the side of the road during the race, with Meakins saying the extreme nature of this instance shows that defecating in public isn't a common practice among the running community.

A man squats beside a open car door (left) and a woman wearing a pink top squats between two cars (right).
Runners in the past have been caught going to the toilet in the street while out for a run. Source: Reddit/Supplied

However, there have been runners caught on CCTV cameras going to the toilet on the street or in driveways in the past, with a top Brisbane business executive resigning from his job in 2018 after he was accused of publicly defecating more than 30 times.

Waverley Council failed to comment on the issue in Bondi or confirm if there have been any reports to council of human defecation in public. However, a council spokesperson told Yahoo News if "anyone witnesses inappropriate behaviour such as this they should report it directly to New South Wales Police Force and then to Council for clean-up."

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