Forres Community Council calling for photographic evidence of discarded dog waste bags
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A LOCAL watchdog group is calling on walkers to “bag it and bin it”!
Forres Community Council (FCC) member Frank Byrne has raised the issue of increasing instances of dog fouling in and around town, and in particular, irresponsible pet owners bagging waste then dumping it when they cannot be seen.
He said: “I raised the issue at the last FCC meeting following a complaint from a concerned member of the public and seeing it for myself in the town.
“It’s also been flagged up numerous times on social media recently.
“It’s going on everywhere and needs to stop.”
The Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act of 2003 makes it an offence for anyone in charge of a dog not to immediately pick up and dispose of its fouling appropriately.
The legislation applies to all areas of public open space, including: children’s play areas; pavements, footpaths and roads; pedestrian precincts; grass verges; parks and other recreational areas; footpaths and cycle ways; common areas; or any place which is open to the air to which the public or any section of the public has access.
Under the Act, failure to clean up may result in a fixed penalty fine of £80.
If this is not paid within the required period and a hearing has not been requested the fine is raised to £100 and if not paid the matter is passed to sheriff officers.
The act also removes the need for corroborative evidence in relation to dog fouling offences, and makes it an additional offence if culprits fail to give name and address details to an authorised officer. Those found guilty of this additional offence can face a fine of up to £1000.
It should be noted that is not an excuse for pet owner to be unaware of their dog committing the offence.
Environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful runs nationwide campaign #Turdtag to highlight the issue. Last October its data showed that 32 per cent of people across Scotland think problems with abandoned dog poo have got worse during lockdown.
The campaign asks volunteers to monitor 100m stretches of ground for it – research results show an average of 12 dog poos every 100m and that bagged dog poo is 1.5 times more common than unbagged.
FCC is encouraging local volunteers to take pictures of bagged and unbagged dog waste that also show where it was left.
FCC chairman Shaun Moat said: “Areas of real concern are High Street, Grant Park, Pilmuir and Orchard Road. A number of members of the public have complained about treading in it, dog owners not picking it up or picking it up and hanging the bags in trees.
“We are appealing for examples on the Forres Community Council Facebook page.”
