A rise in reports of dog fouling and on-the-spot fines is turning up the heat on irresponsible owners in Angus.
Dog fouling is one of the major bug-bears for people in the county and Angus Council has called on the public to continue the fight against dog owners who will not pick up after their pets.
A freedom of information request by The Courier revealed that 1,293 incidents of dog fouling were reported to Angus Council last year, which was up from 1,212 in 2011/12.
Wardens also handed out 76 penalty notices, which was 11 more than the previous year.
Before that, only eight fixed penalty notices were given out in 2010 for dog fouling in the county which was actually up from three in 2009 and down from nine in 2008.
Neighbourhood services convener Donald Morrison said: “Dog fouling and littering are two of the main issues in Angus and it is encouraging that more people are reporting incidents of dog fouling to the council, with the number of penalty notices being issued rising also.
“While these increases show the public are taking a stand against this problem, we cannot be complacent and the council need the continued help from the public in catching irresponsible dog owners and should contact the ACCESS line, giving a description or number plate of the owner.
“The council have also recently given enforcement powers to more council officers and will have new signage on litter bins.”
Graeme Dey, MSP for Angus South, said: “Dog fouling is as anti-social as littering and is a problem we need to make progress on.
“I am aware of a number of local initiatives that have been set-up to combat this issue and I am very supportive of them. It’s important that all owners take responsibility for their pet or face the risk of being fined.”
Dog fouling remains top of the agenda at community councils across the district, with individual burghs also taking their own initiative to highlight the problem.
Arbroath Community Council chairman Ian Watson said: “Dog fouling is obviously a problem that is not going away, I do, however, believe it is a problem that the members of the public could help resolve.
“We know that there are areas in the town that are constant hot spots for dog fouling and the residents in the area know of the dog fouling.
“I would ask the residents to be good citizens and report the dog owners. We must name and shame the dog owners surely they can’t all be phantom foulers.
“We can’t expect council officers to be at each incident as it happens, so perhaps the residents in the areas of concern could begin a neighbourhood scheme to keep an eye out and report the irresponsible dog owners to the local ACCESS office.”
Kirriemuir was the latest Angus community to take its irresponsible dog owners to task.
Dog fouling recently dominated a meeting of the town’s community council, with claims the law-breaking minority were turning local beauty spots into no-go areas for families and visitors.
Two years ago, Angus turned to community wardens in the battle against dog fouling. The transfer of responsibility for monitoring and enforcing dog fouling issues to community wardens followed a best value review by Angus Council.