Tackling Dog Fouling in the Borough.
On 1st April 2019, Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) (made under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014) came into effect in the Borough. In public areas with PSPOs, you may have to:
- Keep your dog on a lead
- Put your dog on a lead if told to by a police officer, police community support officer or someone from the council
- Clear up after your dog
- Carry a poop scoop or disposable bags
Dog mess should always be picked up and disposed of in a litter bin, if the litter bin is full, you would be expected to either take the dog’s waste home or use the next available litter bin. Leaving bagged waste on the ground or in a hedge would be a criminal offence.
Dog fouling is not only unpleasant, it can be dangerous. Contact with contaminated soil can in some cases cause Toxocariasis in humans and can lead to dizziness, nausea, asthma and even blindness and seizures.
If you see incidents of dog fouling please can you report it to:
By failing to clear up after your dog, you are guilty of a criminal offence and may be issued with a £100 fixed penalty. The offender will then have 14 days in which to pay the fine or face prosecution in Magistrate's Court, where a maximum fine of £1000 can be imposed.
The law does not consider the following as a reasonable excuse:
- Ignorance of the law
- Forgetting to carry a bag
- Lack of no fouling signs
Only one fixed penalty will be issued to each offender, anyone caught failing to clean up on a second occasion, will be prosecuted. If a Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council Officer is obstructed whilst issuing a Fixed Penalty, the offender will be prosecuted.
Notes
The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 defines a “public place” as any place to which the public or any section of the public has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission.
The current order recreated the dog fouling order made under the Clean Neighbourhoods & Environment Act 2005. The order made it an offence for a person in charge of a dog to fail to clear up after the dog has fouled land, which is open to air and to which the public are entitled or permitted to have access (with or without payment).
