East Riding Council enforced just one fine after receiving over 300 complaints of dog fouling in 2023.
Research into Freedom of Information (FOI) data by TopDog, shows that while people are complaining in their hundreds, fines are rarely being handed out across the East Riding.
The data shows that in 2023 a total of 328 complaints of dog fouling were made to the council with just a single fine being issued as a result. In the UK dog owners who get spotted not clearing up after their dog can get handed an on-the-spot fine of up to £100, and a further £1,000 if prosecuted.
The FOI data does show how the number of dog fouling complaints can greatly fluctuate year-by-year and that the number of complaints has dropped in four of the last five years.
Year-Number of Complaints
2016 – 482
2017 – 436
2018 – 571
2019 – 528
2020 – 384
2021 – 389
2022 – 365
2023 – 328
Responding to this data, a council spokesperson commented:
'East Riding of Yorkshire council is dedicated to ensuring that the region is a good place to live, and work with local communities and parish councils to tackle issues such as dog fouling. It takes a very short time for a dog to foul and this needs to be witnessed, the dog linked without doubt to the dog walker and the dog walker to leave without cleaning up after their dog. This is a narrow time window, and all three elements need to be witnessed by the officer.
“If members of the public have CCTV footage from their doorbell camera, or we are supplied with images from the town centre CCTV systems, we can issue fixed penalty notices for offences. When responding to reports of dog fouling, we encourage people to contact the council’s dog warden team and give as much information as they can. We encourage concerned residents to report fouling issues with details of irresponsible dog owners at https:https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/environment/pests-dogs-and-animals/dog-control-and-ownership/.'
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