Call for £500 fine for leaving muck
Last updated at 15:02, Friday, 20 April 2012
IRRESPONSIBLE dog owners should be slapped with a minimum £500 fine for not picking up after their dog, a councillor says.
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As part of the Evening Mail’s Scoop the Poop campaign, residents have nominated dog fouling hotspots throughout the area.
Reader Gordon Walker said Walney was well known for its dog fouling problem, leading some residents to brand it “dog mess island”.Mr Walker regularly takes in a route around Black Butts Lane, Ocean Road, Promenade, Mill Lane and Moor Tarn Lane.
He said: “I was asked by one of the house owners why I walked with my head down, to which I replied ‘I am trying to dodge the dog muck’. One of the days I counted over 70 bits of dog mess on my route.”
Councillor Des Barlow, who represents Walney North on Barrow Borough Council, said a higher fine for irresponsible dog owners should be introduced.
He said: “The dog mess problem seems to be better than it used to in north Walney, but there could still be improvements.
“It has been an ongoing problem on the island for a few years now.
“I think the punishment is not tough enough. There needs to be a stronger deterrent. A £500 fine, nothing less than that.
“The council’s out-of-hours dog poo patrols and the contract cleaning of dog mess shouldn’t have to be done, and it is taking up someone’s time that could be better spent elsewhere.”
Mr Walker added: “Walney does not get called ‘dog mess island’ for nothing. Too many cars come on to the island and leave without taking their waste back home.”
Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock said: “Allowing dogs to foul public areas drives people up the wall, including the responsible majority of dog owners who clean up after their animals. I particularly feel for mums and dads whose young children end up having to dodge dog dirt when they are out playing.
“Walney is a fantastic place to live and visit but too often its pavements get blighted with dog poo. So I am right behind the Evening Mail’s campaign to crack down on this menace and urge everyone to play their part by challenging and reporting people who let their dogs foul public areas.”
Walney South councillor Frank Cassidy added: “It is a perennial problem and some fairly extreme punishments have been suggested to me by more than one south Walney resident.
“The kind of publicity generated by the Evening Mail’s campaign will foster a climate in which owners are less likely to leave mess in the streets and it is to be applauded.”
First published at 13:03, Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
At the end of the day most of the anti social issues the town suffers from are due to a lack of or bad management of recources. litter, dog mess, and the reoccurance of seagulls! still no action, I saw Fly tipping again this weekend was there not a campaigne against all of these before with promise of action and change?
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Is it not more viable to create areas which are dog toilets and have everybody take their dogs to these areas then have somebody on community service to collect the dogs eggs and dispose of them appropriately?
Posted by Macorquadale Snatch on 30 April 2012 at 14:53