Last updated at 14:28, Saturday, 21 April 2012

A WEEK of high profile poo patrols has come to an end.

But irresponsible dog owners should still be wary.

As the Evening Mail’s Scoop the Poop campaign enters its final week, we are working with council enforcement teams, police community support officers and neighbourhood wardens to catch and shame those responsible for letting their dogs foul in our streets.

A number of targeted locations will be under surveillance next week.

After a week of educational visits to schools and community patrols, Barrow Borough Council neighbourhood warden Andy High says the situation is slowly improving.

He said: “There are a lot of factors for improvement. There has been a lot of publicity so people are more aware of it.

“We’ve been giving out a lot more poo bags at the office and when the lighter nights start, there is generally an improvement anyway.

“Talking to schools and parents gets the message home that bit more.”

No fines have been issued as a result of the patrols but wardens have given cautions for breaching dog control orders, and gathered intelligence on culprits.

Mr High said: “A lot of the people we’ve spoken to have been genuinely responsible dog owners or residents with concerns. I just hope we’re getting the message across to the individuals who let their dog foul that it is not acceptable and they need to follow the same rules as everyone else. I’ve been happy with the multi-agency operation and how we’ve worked together, I’d like to think the public were pleased to see us doing something about it.

“Issuing fines would have been nice but the main emphasis on this week was education, working with the schools and residents. We’ve also had some really good intelligence about some dog owners who persistently let their animals foul. So we’re hoping that on the back of that intelligence a few fines will be issued over the coming weeks.

“We know of a few more problematic areas now and we’ve been able to narrow it down to one or two addresses within that area. From that point of view, the week of education and intelligence gathering has been more than valuable.”

First published at 10:40, Saturday, 21 April 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk