Council spearheading campaign to help quit dog fouling

Council spearheading campaign to help quit dog fouling

20 June 2018

A NEW public campaign is to be launched to tackle the district’s dog fouling and litter problems head-on.

Newry, Mourne and Down Council will later today rubber stamp plans to draw up a new action  plan which will have improving the district’s cleanliness at its core.

Politicians are becoming increasingly frustrated at the blatant disregard some dog owners and ratepayers are displaying and are keen to address the issue as a matter or urgency. They are also planning a robust approach to deal with those who flagrantly break the law.

Council officials and politicians are fed up with dog owners allowing their pets to use public areas as open air toilets and ratepayers using secluded rural areas as unofficial dumps.

While a joint approach is being drawn up to tackle the issues, the dog fouling problem is causing the most alarm with council officials keen to enhance the current street cleansing regime across the district.

They say a more “robust and uniform approach” is necessary, with greater emphasis on educating people about disposing of their litter in particular. 

Council officials are promising a tougher approach to enforcement, with politicians concerned the district’s reputation is being put at risk by people showing a complete disregard for the law and their environment.

There is not a single town or village across the district which does not have a dog fouling or litter problem and very much conscious of this, council officials agree it is time to act and have confirmed the cost of the action plan can be met from existing budgets.

News that an action plan is to be drawn up has been welcomed by Rowallane councillor Billy Walker, who has consistently highlighted dog fouling and litter issues across the district, including fly-tipping.

He is delighted the local authority has agreed to take the lead on the issues which he said a significant number of ratepayers are concerned about.

“Elected representatives are inundated with complaints about dog fouling and litter and while council officials have done their best in the past, the problems continued,” he said. “I hope what can best be described as a new get tough approach is effective.”

“The local council has put tourism at the top of its agenda and is striving to increase the number of international visitors to the district. While fully supportive of this, we need to tackle the dog fouling issue in particular. 

“While the majority of dog owners clean up after their pets, there is a hardcore who do not. I have continually argued these people should be publicly named and shamed and maybe they will think twice in future if they were.”

Cllr Walker said there are many “dog fouling hot spots” across the district, including in his own town of Killyleagh.

He congratulated council officials for outlining proposals for the new action plan and hoped it will be successful and help rid the district of what he described as “these unwanted problems.”

Cllr Walker added: “Dog owners and those who litter in the street and dump rubbish in secluded rural areas have little regard for the area they live in, which is sad. 

“But perhaps the most ironic thing about it all is that those who break the law are paying to have all this material removed through their rates. Their behaviour simply makes no sense and ends up hitting them in the pocket.”