Importance of responsible dog ownership one of the key messages shared by Outdoor Access officers

Aberdeenshire Council’s Outdoor Access officers and the Aberdeenshire Local Outdoor Access Forum (ALOAF) attended this year’s Turriff Show 2022 held on Sunday, July 31 and Monday, August 1.

Turriff Show is the largest two-day agricultural Show in Scotland, featuring livestock, trade stands, a fun fair, indoor shopping mall and ringside entertainments.

This show is most definitely not just for farmers - organisers want to accommodate every member of the public who walks through the gates, whether their interests lie with cattle, food and drink or if they are just coming along for a fun-filled family day out which makes it a great place for the outdoor access officers to promote responsible access and the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

There were more than 300 outdoor trade stands promoting all aspects of agriculture including arable, livestock, farm management and farm machinery and indoor trade stands offering a variety of items in the Exhibition Marquee, Indoor Shopping Mall and Art and Craft Marquee.

There was an Industrial Marquee for exhibitors to vie a prize for their home-based products from jams and chutneys to knitting and sewing and in the Horticulture Marquee for displaying their various varieties of flowers and vegetables.

The Outdoor Access officers’ main messages to the visitors was the importance of being a responsible dog owner and they looked at the natural instincts that any dog has deep within them when it comes to livestock, as shown by many different breeds of dogs when it came to the natural sheep’s fleece that the access officers placed in the stand.
 
If you are interested in promoting responsible access to the countryside, the Aberdeenshire Local Outdoor Access Forum currently has open vacancies for representatives of the Aberdeenshire area.

The forum has a balanced representation from the following four sectors:

• Access users
• Agencies and/or organisations
• Community
• Land management

Forum representatives can serve for up to three years and may be considered for re-election thereafter. Please email aloaf@aberdeenshire.gov.uk for details.