Press Release
21st October 2003
Owners
Warned Not to Fall Foul of New Dog Mess Laws
MSP
for Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, is warning dog owners who fail to
clean up after their pets that they face a £40 on-the-spot fine.
When
the new Dog Fouling Act comes into force
tomorrow, the council and police can hand a fixed penalty notice to
anyone failing to bag and bin their dog’s mess.
Mr McNeil says the Act, which he supported as it was approved by the
Scottish Parliament in March, makes it easier to prosecute irresponsible dog
owners:
“It
would be great if we had dogs which were able to clean up after themselves,”
he said.
“But we don’t.
And until science advances that far, it remains up to owners to make sure
the rest of us don’t have our local environments ruined by the mess their four
legged friends leave behind.
“From tomorrow, any owner
who is reluctant to accept that responsibility will need deep pockets.
Because, thanks to the new Dog Fouling Act, the police and the council
can now issue an on-the-spot £40 fine to anyone who fails to bag and bin their
dog’s mess.”
ENDS
Notes
The Scottish parliament
approved the Dog Fouling Bill on 13th March, 2003. The Bill applies
to all public areas and:
Creates and offence of
failing to clean up after a dog instead of the previous offence of allowing
a dog to foul;
Allows the police and
local councils to issue fixed penalty notices instead of attempting to
prosecute a case through the courts; and
Removes
the need for corroborating evidence which previously made it difficult to
secure a conviction for dog fouling.
Almost 100 children a year
pick up serious infection because of dog mess.
In some cases it has resulted in blindness.
Roughly half of the dog
population is infested with a parasitic worm “Toxocara” which is harmful to
humans. A single dog mess can
contain up to one million Toxocara worms.
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