Dog fouling and the law
What is a dog fouling offence?
Bolton Council currently uses The Fouling of Land by Dogs (The Borough Council of Bolton) Order 2007, under which it has designated land throughout the whole of Bolton Borough where dog owners must clean up if their dog fouls the ground.
The types of land which have been designated include:
Footpaths, bridleways, cycle tracks, canal towpaths and verges.
- Public parks, amenity land and open spaces, including some wooded areas.
- All land used as pleasure grounds, or for recreational or sporting purposes, including children’s play areas.
- Public car parks.
- The grounds of schools and colleges, including playing fields and playgrounds.
- Land belonging to cemeteries and crematoria.
- Any forecourt, terrace, yard or walkway, together with adjoining verges, landscaped areas and gardens, which provide access to, or adjoin, any building to which the public have access.
Only land which is used as farmland, woodland, marshland, moor or heath land and common land is excluded from the control order.
Bolton Council operates a zero tolerance approach to dog fouling offences, and failure to clean up ‘forthwith’ (which means quickly and permanently) after your dog is an offence for which you may receive either a fixed penalty fine of £75 or you may be prosecuted in the Magistrates Court which can result in a fine of up to £1000.
What can you do about dog fouling offences?
If you have witnessed dog fouling in a public place, or if you are experiencing dog fouling in your area you can report it to the Environmental Education and Enforcement Unit using the contact details. All complaints are investigated individually or as part of routine patrols by the Enforcement Officers. Where offences are found they will normally result in a fixed penalty notice being issued to the dog owner. Non-payment of the penalty or repeated offences may result in prosecution of the offence in the Magistrates Court.
What should dog owners do?
Responsible owners do not allow their dogs to foul public places. They do not take them for a walk with the intention of letting them foul, and if their dog does foul they remove it using a plastic bag or other suitable poop-scoop (Plastic dog bags can be obtained free at many Bolton at Home housing offices and other council buildings such as libraries and U-can centres. When not available free from the council they can be purchased from many pet shops, veterinary surgeries or supermarkets). They remove the waste straight away and they place it in a waste bin or take it to their own bin at home.Using plastic bags and poop-scoops ensures that your hands never come into contact with the dog mess, and removing it like this means nobody else has to come into contact with it.
Worming.
Removing dog mess reduces the disease risk to the public (open sewers were removed in victorian times for precisely this reason). One of these health risks with dog mess is caused by the eggs of roundworms; but the risk of contracting toxocariasis from roundworm eggs from pet animals could be massively reduced if owners, as well as cleaning up after their dogs, would worm their pets (dogs and cats) regularly. Your vet will advise you on the best medication to use as there are tablets and syrups available.
Handwashing.
Everybody should remember to wash their hands before eating, even if the country became free of dog mess there are diseases in the environment that are caught purely due to poor hygiene practices when eating food, especially hand-held snacks.
Service standards.
- We aim to respond to all complaints about dog fouling within seven working days
- We aim to complete investigations within 60 working days
- We aim to inform all complainants about the outcome of our investigations
- We aim to deal with all people in a courteous and helpful manner