Thanet council is calling on residents to help catch culprits who fail to clear up after their dogs.
The authority said although the majority of dog owners are responsible there are a minority who let their pets foul without bothering to clean up.
A social media statement from TDC states: “Here’s one example of what we’re up against…in Cliftonville, Margate an alleyway between Brockley and Clifton Roads is being found covered in disgusting dog mess, and all evidence points to one owner not scooping the poop.
“Our teams have had the alley cleaned, patrolled it regularly and picked up dog mess. They have also added signs and sprayed the pavement with stencils to remind people of their responsibility, as well as adding a dog bin at the top of the alley. Despite these efforts the dog mess still appears.
“Without 24/7 monitoring, it would need luck to catch the culprit, who must be caught in the act of walking away and not picking up the mess, for us to be able to issue a penalty! In the eyes of the law, dog fouling doesn’t allow covert surveillance, so hidden cameras aren’t an option.
“We need people in local communities to start identifying the few who are ruining the streets for the rest of us. Can you help? Residents can report offenders in confidence to [email protected], and the joint enforcement team will investigate and take action. We will also be posting flyers through doors in hotspot areas.”
The enforcement team also recently cleared the alley next to Salmestone primary and nursery and stencilled a sign on the footway to remind dog owners to be responsible.
The action followed a report by The Isle of Thanet News last week about the growing problem of discarded dog waste along the public footpath.
The path runs from Tivoli Road to Salmestone Road, alongside the former Margate Sands Railway line. Dog mess littered the ground and black bags containing the waste were discarded alongside the pathway or thrown over the fence. At the bottom of the path by Tivoli Road a mound of bags was building up on a section of brickwork.
Anyone who fails to clear up after their dog can be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice of £100. If a case goes to court this could cost the owner or person in charge of the animal up to £1,000.
Thanet District Council has worked in partnership with Tikspac to install 30 dog waste bag dispensers around parks and open spaces.
About time – Thanet – Margate / Broadstairs- has a massive problem . Far worse than London . Disgusting. You could pay people to catch those responsible on commission only and still be worth it !! It’s everywhere
Agreed but it is not just Margate, Cliftonville & Broadstairs Minster & Ramsgate have been plagued by the dog mess one area in Ramsgate a person or persons by the amount of mess could be a dog walker actually bags it up and throws it in a garden hedge not very nice as bags split and it goes everywhere. So few ruin it for all the responsible dog owners. If you see anyone who’s dog is fouling wherever it may be outside their own home boundary should try to film the dog /dog’s doing it and the dog and owner walking away and if safe get the owners address take evidence to the council or upload it to their system with as much information as possible. Their is nothing worse than cleaning dog poo of a child’s hands or shoes.
The council also needs to clamp down on the people who are using the streets their personal waste bin. I travel extensively around England and Thanet is the dirtiest, filthiest place I’ve seen. I have yet to see anywhere that comes close to having the littering problem that Thanet suffers from.
How comes criminals are no longer made to clean our streets and pick up litter and dog poo as part of their community sentencing?
It’s not just dog mess. The whole of Thanet is just filthy. Litter and crap everywhere, streets stinking of dog mess and bins overflowing. Someone needs to get a grip on this and, given how much our Council Tax has just gone up, I would say the Council need to do a lot more.
Thanetian Blind is exaggerating.
He really isn’t, the majority of Thanet is in an absolutely appalling state with faeces, litter, syringes and spills on most streets.
I think East Kent Messiah is exaggerating too.
Yes it is the responsibility of the dog owners to pick up there mess.. I’ve no issues with that.. the council say put it in your household bin.. but.. people have walk around carrying it.. more bins are required.. you can walk for miles without seeing a bin.. surely more bins means cleaner streets
Of course the people who let their dogs poo outside your house are more than likely a neighbour or certainly someone who lives close by. But of course this happens either early morning or late at night,so there you are folks, there is usually very little chance of seeing them and if you do, how do you report it. I believe that you could be asked to attend court to give a witness statement. What are the chances? Unfortunately the problem has exacerbated over time due to the increase in dog ownership. Maybe each neighborhood could be issued with free dog poo bags to encourage dog owners to pick up…but don’t hold your breath they would probably bag it and Chuck it in your garden. A sad but true reflection of Britain in 2020. Just a thought, how about making all dog owners pay for their dog which could be used to pay for the cleanup. after all, why should I have to pay for the council for this if I don’t have a dog. Hold on, didn’t that used to be known as a dog license? Well there you go, all those officials being paid to come up with a solution and these are the same people who abolished the license many years ago. There’s nothing new under the sun.
One guy who lives there and walks his dog down those alley’s above, he goes along at 1.00 am so there is no chance of anyone catching him, and He never picks it up.
Some councils get DNA samples from the faeces, so they can match to DNA taken from the dog. I believe there is no statutory requirement to have a dog’s DNA sampled, but if there was a reasonable suspicion of the dog having been allowed to foul, perhaps that would be sufficient grounds for compulsion.
An example is the geniuses at TDC who have decided to cover and tape up all the bins along Ramsgate seafront between Wetherspoons and the old Nero’s site. Guess what has happened? Litter and dog crap everywhere. Why are they making a bad situation so much worse? I genuinely worry about the complete and utter lack of intelligence from those making this sort of decision.
It’s not just unsightly and unsociable it’s infuriating. I walk with my children to school and every single morning and afternoon without fail I can be heard shouting ‘watch out! Poo!’ as we dodge numerous piles of dog mess. I have had to scrub dog poo off their school shoes before they can go into class. When I worked in a school children would regularly walk into class with dogs mess on their shoes. Then the carpet has to be scrubbed with nothing more than paper towels and then the kids have to sit on that carpet. It’s obvious that the people who don’t pick up do not give a damn about other people or the environment we all share but you would think the thought of kids walking into school would be enough to encourage owners to pick up. I have dogs and I pick up. If you don’t want to pick up dog poo, don’t get a dog. It’s the most idle, arrogant and disgusting behaviour.