Barrow dog poo patrols bag 79 people in 5 years
Last updated at 15:01, Friday, 20 April 2012
HUNDREDS of man hours and regular poo patrols to tackle dog fouling resulted in just 79 fines being handed out to irresponsible dog owners in the past five years.
- Related article: Dog control orders being flouted in kids’ play area
- Related article: Pupils urge dog owners to clean up after their pets
- Related article: Parents join battle to rid our streets of dog dirt
- Related article: Patrols to hound dog owners about fouling
- Related article: Club hits out at foul play
- Related article: Askam residents’ despair over blighted ‘dog poo alley’
- Related article: Call for £500 fine for leaving muck
- Related article: South Cumbria residents recall tales of woe caused by dog muck
- Related article: Readers identify 50 dog fouling hotspots
- Related article: Health expert warns of dog fouling dangers
- Related article: Daily fight to keep Furness streets clean
- Related article: Campaign to clean up our communities
Since January 2007, Barrow Borough Council has received nearly 900 complaints from members of the public about dog fouling.
Streetcare manager for the borough council, Alan Barker, said the low report-to-fine ratio shows how difficult a job his team face without help from the community.
He said: “It shows how difficult it is to catch people. And it’s not for want of trying.” Since last October the Streetcare team has carried out 14 out-of-hours dog poo patrols around the borough, in an attempt to catch people not cleaning up after their dogs.The borough council’s neighbourhood wardens for Hindpool, Central and Barrow Island have also conducted a dozen early morning patrols.
The Streetcare team gives advice to dog walkers and warns them of the penalty for not picking up after their animal. The council also gives away more than 200,000 poo bags a year.
But Mr Barker said if the problem does not improve the council may use the £2,000 spent on bags to pay for extra patrols instead.
He said: “If we don’t see a reduction in dog fouling, the money might be better spent on enforcement work.
“We give the bags away for free because we want to work with people and keep the borough clean.
“It is disheartening when you see someone has used our bags then just stuck them in the bush, in a fence or just left it on the side of the road. They have taken the time to bag it up, so why leave it?”
There are 463 bins in the borough which cost 54p a day each to be emptied. Some bins are emptied more than once so the total cost can rise above £250 on some days.
Mr Barker said: “People wouldn’t have more than half-a-mile to talk to find a bin. We cannot afford to have a litter bin on every street corner. It costs about £450 to buy and fasten a litter bin in place.”
Council waste contractors, Biffa, clean up an average of 30 pieces of dog muck a day in the borough.
Mr Barker said: “We always advise people not to approach the individuals themselves. We then assess the area and stick anti-dog fouling posters and stickers up in the community.”
First published at 13:08, Tuesday, 03 April 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
Whilst failing to pick up after your dog is out of order and littering, I just filled two carrier bags of rubbish from Birkrigg, mainly fast food wrappers, watery beer cans, fag packets, crisp packets...When are we going to get a grip on people who fail to use a bin for any rubbish, who ruin our lovely surroundings because they are cretins?
View all 6 comments on this article
Have your say
I undertook aSurvey of the UK in 2012 which proved that the UK is drowning in Dog Muck. Instead of the policy of 'after the event' more work should be done 'prevention is better than cure' I offered Barrow Council a Dog Toilet Training Manual at a cost of 3p each for distributing amongst Dow Owners. They never took my opffer up.
Posted by Bob Roberts on 24 April 2013 at 19:58