Tag: dog fouling

Keep Scotland Beautiful calls for support to record scale of dog fouling problem

#TurdTag returns this Halloween

Environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful is once again looking for individuals and families to get involved with their popular Clean Up Scotland campaign.

#TurdTag will help establish how much of a problem dog poo is across Scotland and comes after Keep Scotland Beautiful data showed that 32% of people across Scotland think dog poo had got worse during lockdown.

Community support during #TurdTag in May showed an average of 12 dog poos every 100m and that bagged dog poo was 1.5 times more common than unbagged. 

The return of #TurdTag during autumn will see if the darker, colder weather leads to more dog poo being left behind whilst also reminding owners to act responsibly and #BagIt and #BinIt even in the wintery months. 

For two weeks, starting on 31 October, volunteers are being asked to identify a 100m stretch of local road, path or walk through a local greenspace and count, then submit information on, the number of dog poos (bagged and un-bagged) that they find.

Results should be emailed to cleanup@keepscotlandbeautiful.org by 20 November 2020 and can also be shared using social media and the hashtag #turdtag.

Heather McLaughlin, Campaigns Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful said: “Following the success of our #TurdTag campaign earlier this year, we are really keen to encourage as many individuals and families as possible to get out to count dog poos for us again, so we can get a really good understanding of Scotland’s dog poo problem year round.

“We all know that dog poo on our streets and green spaces is a disgusting problem caused by a minority of thoughtless people, so the information we get will form a unique new data set which will be used to increase awareness and drive action to tackle one of Scotland’s worst environmental complaints.”

Talking ****: dog fouling fine doubles

Tougher penalties for irresponsible owners

dog dirt

The fine for dog owners who fail to pick up after their pets has been doubled by the Scottish Parliament. The fixed penalty for dog fouling is being increased from £40 to £80 to bring it in to line with the fine for littering. Continue reading Talking ****: dog fouling fine doubles

Council calls for tougher penalties for dog fouling

dog dirtThe City of Edinburgh Council is calling on tougher laws to help crack down on the issue of dog fouling in the city.

A report to next week’s Transport and Environment Committee urges the Scottish Government to raise the Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) currently handed out to dog fouling offenders, and calls for an increased maximum fine for dog owners taken to court.

The report also recommends a new approach to monitor perpetrators’ future behaviour, designed to bring about a long term change and reduce dog fouling in Edinburgh.

Measures would add to a series of campaigns held by the Council to tackle the issue, which is consistently identified by local residents as one of their top priorities.

Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: “Dog fouling is an issue which continues to blight our streets, creating not only an eyesore but a potential health and safety risk.

“We are committed to tackling this, and it is important that we do everything in our power to deter irresponsible owners from committing the offence.

“That’s why we’re calling on harsher punishments for offenders, as well as long-term monitoring, to reflect the significance of the crime but also to discourage repeat offending.”
If approved, the Council will formally approach the Scottish Government to request an increase to the amount charged for on-the-spot FPNs, currently £40 (rising to £60 after 28 days) in line with FPNs for littering and fly-tipping, which were updated earlier this year.
In addition, the Council will request an increase in the maximum fine on summary conviction in court, currently £500, to reflect “the seriousness or prominence of the offence”.
Proposed measures also include investigating a long term approach to persistent dog fouling, similar to the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010, which was introduced to address the behaviour of dogs deemed to be out of control. This involves the issue of Dog Control Notices imposing specific requirements with which offending owners must comply, followed by a monitoring period to address the behaviour of owners who repeatedly fail to pick up after their dogs.
As well as lobbying for legislative changes, the Council plans to work with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the Scottish Court Service with the aim of securing Publicity Orders for convicted dog fouling offenders in Edinburgh. It is hoped the use of the Order, requiring individuals to publicise their conviction in a specific way, would discourage repeat offending.
In the last year, 231 FPNs have been handed out to dog owners across the city, with 82 people reported to the Procurator Fiscal for dog fouling offences.
On Tuesday, councillors will consider the various approaches to resolving the issue, as well as assessing ongoing campaigns like the South Neighbourhood’s Don’t Blame the Dog initiative, which aims to raise awareness of the problem as well as targeting enforcement action in hotspots identified by the public.
For more information on the Council’s approach to dog fouling, and how to report it, visit the Council website.
You can also watch the report being discussed at next week’s Transport and Environment Committee meeting by tuning in to the city council’s live webcast.

North Edinburgh to tackle dog fouling in new initiative

Environmental Wardens Team Leader Mark Bannon on a forthcoming initiative:

NORTH  NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAM

Dog Fouling Exercise 8 April -12 May 

Introduction

This planning is well underway and involves SfC partners to address dog fouling issues. A partnership initiative approach will provide, education, multi-agency working and enforcement to target problems encountered in an effort to minimise this anti social behaviour.

Main Aim of this Initiative:-

To reduce dog fouling and enforce on those offending. Encouraging changes in public behaviour and attitudes is a complex and lengthy business. Who would have thought twenty years ago that most buildings and workplaces, both public and private, would now have implemented no smoking policies? This has been achieved largely via consensus between smokers and non-smokers. In order to succeed, anti dog-fouling policies must achieve that same level of agreement between dog owners and non-owners.

The North Neighbourhood Environmental Wardens, Community Safety Officers, Safer Neighbourhood Team and CCTV 

  • a high visibility and low visibility presence from  an enforcement role helping to create a clean environment for members of the public in our local community
  • patrol areas of local ‘Hot Spots’ known for dog fouling. Referrals will be made to the Task Force on a daily basis
  • take enforcement action against anyone found to be contravening the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003.

Mark Bannon

dog fouling