A campaign to tackle dog fouling across Liverpool has led to a dramatic reduction in cases - with reports in three areas cut in half.
As part of a 12-month team up between Liverpool Council and Keep Britain Tidy to clean up the city, the local authority has sought to clamp down on errant owners who fail to pick up after their pets. A series of awareness tactics have been employed across popular routes in four wards in the city to make it clear to dog owners that they would be punished for failure to comply with rules.
Data compiled by the city council has now identified that fouling has come down as a result in the four wards. In St Michaels, cases were down by 59% while a reduction was found in Kensington of 57%.
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There was an impact in the city centre too, with fouling reduced by 51% in Riverside ward. In County ward, Walton, dog fouling came down by 47%.
The campaign against dog fouling, which will include the implementation of £80 on the spot fines, has been reinforced by the local authority’s move to adopt a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to fine those who are failing to bag and dispose their dog’s mess. This was instigated after the council received 1,865 complaints regarding dog fouling between January 2020 to January 2022.
In one instance a children’s play area had to be closed for a week for a deep cleanse because of the problem. New powers are now available to the council to issue on-the-spot fines to owners who don’t keep their dog on a lead in a number of public places, such as children’s play areas, around park lakes, cemeteries and crematoriums.
The council is also creating a new enforcement team which will have regular responsibility of targeting known dog fouling areas and to issue fixed penalty notices to owners.
As well as dog fouling, the Keep Liverpool Tidy programme is also targeting fly-tipping, cigarette litter, commercial waste and litter in parks. The council has taken to highlighting offenders on social media and is now tracking 40 offenders and processing fines of £400 to more than half of them.
Mayor Joanne Anderson, who is also cabinet lead for neighbourhood services, said: “There is no excuse for not bagging and binning your dog’s mess and yet some owners find this simple task beyond them. It’s extremely selfish behaviour and one which can easily ruin a pleasant walk or play with your children.
“As a council through our new Keep Liverpool Tidy programme we’re taking a much harder zero tolerance approach to this issue. For the past few months we’ve been issuing signs, to raise awareness and educate owners, but in the new year we’ll be issuing fines thanks to the new PSPO.
“Enough is enough. Dog owners have been told, have been warned and now they will be hit in the pocket.
“A dog bag costs pennies. And it takes seconds to bag and bin the mess.
“The penalty for not doing that has not been enforced as quickly or as often as I’d like. That’s changing.
“And we know the majority of dog owners, who do take their role responsibly, will support that too.”
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