Are you still risking £100?
The District Council’s Environmental Enforcement manager and her team have visited the village again and found far too many instances of dog fouling: on the recreation ground, along the High Street and outside homes in other parts of the village.
Dogs cannot be blamed for this disgusting behaviour.
There is a small minority of dog owners who do not clean up after their pets.
Dog fouling is not only deeply unpleasant; it is dangerous and can cause infections and blindness in children and adults.
EHDC’s Emma Matthews and colleagues visited Buriton School in January and explained that the team is working with the Parish Council on a campaign to reduce dog fouling and litter in the area.
Most of the children at the school said that their family have pet dogs. Many said that their dogs had become ill after eating dog poo and there were also graphic tales of smelly dog poo being trodden into carpets at home.
The children had lots of questions for Emma and all were disgusted that a minority of people could act in such anti-social ways, spoiling life in the village for others.
They volunteered to produce posters to illustrate the importance of picking up your dog poo and litter. In due course the posters will be displayed around the village and it is hoped that all adults will take notice and act responsibly.
The children took a note home to their families explaining that dropping, depositing or leaving behind litter is a criminal offence and that it is also a criminal offence to not clean up after your dog and dispose of the waste responsibly.
The law makes it clear that being unaware that a dog has fouled or not having a suitable bag is not a reasonable excuse.
Anyone witnessed doing this can be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice of £100 and if this is not paid offenders are taken to the Magistrate’s Court, given a criminal record and fined up to £1,000.
The Environmental Enforcement Officers will be patrolling the village and if anyone knows of any additional ‘hotspots’ that they should visit, please email: environmental.enforcement@easthants.gov.uk
Emma stressed that there are no excuses in Buriton with plenty of bins for litter and waste: “Bagged dog poo can be put into any of the litter bins in Buriton,” she explained.
