Border residents rally to help fight dog fouling
Friday, November 7 2008
Scottish Borders Council’s dog fouling campaign is gathering momentum, with the public coming forward to help the wardens to be in the right place at the right time.
The team received 410 calls and 394 e-mails from the public this year. Some were asking for advice, but others gave information about people who not cleaning up after their dogs.
People training in Victoria Park in Selkirk recently reported a dog fouling problem. The environmental and dog warden team immediately focussed their efforts on that area, and issued three fixed penalty notices within an hour. In the fortnight following the reports, a further seven notices were issued.
Dog wardens can’t be everywhere at all times, so they rely on information to catch people flouting the rules. But they are also being proactive. This year, 150,000 bio-degradable dog fouling bags have been made available via council contact centres, along with 9000 leaflets and 12,000 flyers.
More than 5000 dog owners have been advised of their obligations, 242 were given warnings and 93 fixed penalty notices have been issued.
Councillor Len Wyse, the Council’s Executive Member for Environmental Services, said: “The people of the Scottish Borders have had enough of finding dog mess around the place.
“We would like to thank the public for supporting our campaign. Most dog owners are responsible people who clean up after their dogs, but we appreciate everyone’s help in reporting the few owners who do not comply with the law.”
More advice on dog fouling can be found at http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/dogfouling/ or contact the cleansing service on 0800 376 1030.
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