Dog fouling laws difficult to enforce, says council

There were no prosecutions in Meath last year for dog fouling, councillors were told at last week's meeting of Meath County Council.

Cllr Noel French had asked how many dog fouling fines were issued in 2022, how many were paid, and if Meath County Council would consider the installation of dog toilets as done in Dublin city. He was told no dog fouling fines were issued in 2022 for as there are a number of difficulties associated with enforcement.

The burden of proof is high and prosecutions are extremely difficult. It involves identifying culprits as the dog warden must witness an incident and the dog must be connected to a person at the time. Where members of the public report instances, they had to be willing to give evidence in court, but experience has shown that there is often a reluctance to do so.

Cllr French is disappointed at the lack of prosecutions.

"Dogs are the responsibility of their owners, and not cleaning up after your dog is absolutely unacceptable. Dog fouling is also a health hazard. It is disgusting, particularly for wheelchair users, people with walkers and buggies.

"Part of owning a dog is cleaning up after it and if you don't want to do that, don't have a dog," he stated. "The vast majority of dog owners are very responsible and create no problems but a small number ignore their social duty."

“We have to make it socially unacceptable to allow your dog foul a public area. I am appealing to members of the public to report dog fouling. It is not easy to catch the offenders in the act and there can be difficulty in getting identification of the person involved.

“We need to send out a message that dog fouling is disgusting and unacceptable." Councillor French called for more stick and less carrot in litter control in the county.

"It is only a very small number of people who litter or allow their dogs foul the streets. We need to send them a message - that this is not acceptable. I would like to see more fines issued and more brought to completion,” said Cllr French.