This weekend the Goole and Howdenshire Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) have been issued with the necessary fixed penalty tickets to give out if they witness owners allowing their dogs to foul in public places. The £75 fines are to be paid to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.Dog fouling is a major issue for many of our towns and villages. It is the most offensive type of litter on our streets and it is consistently raised by residents.
The tickets can only be given out if the PCSO witnesses the act as part of their day-to-day patrols. There are no plans to for the Police to respond to reports of dog fouling.
Recent figures estimate the UK dog population to be 7.3 million, with dogs producing approximately 1,000 tonnes of excrement each day. In a recent survey of over 19,000 sites dog fouling was present in over 8% of these sites.
Some dog owners still fail to clean up after their dogs and the highest level of dog fouling can be found in areas where people actually live.
I think this sends out a clear message that the Police and the East Riding of Yorkshire Council have listened to residents concerns, and that dog fouling is not to be tolerated. I fully realise that the Police have priorities and will quite rightly not be responding to calls reporting individual cases of dog fouling, but if it is witnessed by the PCSOs they now have the powers and tickets to fine the owner – hopefully this will make people think again before leaving their dog's mess.
6 comments:
The PCSOs need to give the areas around Gilberdyke Station a lot of attention. There is dog poo all around that area.
Glad to hear that action is underway. Now can the same PCSOs get a grip on the cars to be found parked half across the footpath obstructing the path for prams and wheelchairs? The problem is particularly noticeable around Bellasize Park.
I am one of the owners who do pick up my dogs products. Its no great difficulty but some of the dog waste bins around the village seem to be designed to make life difficult. The lift up lids are ok but those with a slot at the side are not easy to use one handed while holding a dog on a lead with the other. (Imagine posting a squishy and still warm parcel through a narrow slot)
Dear Dog Walker
Thank you for you interesting and very descriptive comments ! - You raise an interesting point which I will take up with the Parish Council. (Could you please confirm you are talking about Gilberdyke's bins)
Thanks
Paul
Yes I confirm the bins are in Gilberdyke but no doubt the same pattern are in use elsewhere in the East Riding area
To be honest Paul,
I don't think it matters whether there are 8 or 88% of places that were visited being 'graced' with dog poop.
What we need to recognise and address is that 1 pile of dog poop is far too much.
If the dog owner can't be bothered to clean up after their pet (or the pet in their care) they shouldn't be allowed to keep pets at all.
It's all well and good to charge PCSO's with the task of glorified Dog wardens, but they can't be everywhere.
Also, some of the high value vehicles I have seen transporting dogs around indicates that their owners are not short of a 'bob or three' either.
Fining them is likely to cost less than they spend filling their vehicles up, so hardly a deterrent.
Also by themselves, Fixed penalty tickets are far too anonymous, lets have the legislation in place where these people can be named and shamed.
Perhaps when their social image is threatened they would think twice about not cleaning their pets mess up. Seeing their picture in an 'Hall of Shame' in the local paper would be a greater deterrent than a fine alone.
Until that happens, I look forward to seeing regular PCSO patrols on Westfield Banks, West Park and many other publicly accessible 'green areas' around the district that are often soiled by the pets of inconsiderate owners.
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