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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Donal McMahon

Dog owners could face new fines of over £200 for pet's mess

Dog owners guilty of leaving their pet's "horrendous" mess on council ground could be set to face new fines over £200.

Lisburn and Casltereagh City Council (LCCC) will look at the potential to hike fixed penalty fines as new powers of enforcement transferred from DAERA to local authorities earlier this year.

The environmental services committee has tasked officials to go beyond the recommended limit before meeting with the 10 other councils for a Northern Ireland roll out of uniform fines.

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Lisburn South councillor, Tim Mitchell (UUP) said: "Now with dog fouling every council will be responsible for enforcing the fixed penalties, can we not put it over the limit of £200, even for our own council?

"Dog fouling is a significant problem and the fines should be brought up.

"Anything we can do to put people off letting dogs do what they do, it is horrendous.

"This is especially hard to detect under the cover of darkness during the winter nights."

Castlereagh East councillor, Sharon Skillen ( DUP ) added: "There needs to be a huge deterrent.

"How many people are we actually going to be fining for dog fouling ?

"When I walk where I live it is disgusting, the amount of dog mess about.

"Everyone walking including children, people in wheelchairs and prams, the amount of mess is ridiculous."

Council officers will bring forward a report on increasing fines at the next environment committee meeting.

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