Dog owners need to clean up their act or risk the full force of the law, after it was revealed complaints about dog mess on North-East Fife streets have soared by more than 50% in the past year.
The warning has been sounded by Fife Council and follows the latest prosecution in Fife of a dog owner under the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003.
At Cupar Sheriff Court last week, Derreck Johnstone, 28, of High Road, Newburgh, was fined £80 following an incident on August 18 in Mugdrum Park, Newburgh, when he allowed his dog to foul and failed to pick it up.
Fife Council temporary environmental enforcement officer Jackie O’Donnell told The Courier how on August 18 while patrolling Mugdrum Park, she witnessed Johnstone allowing his dog to foul on a grassed area.
She informed him of the offence and issued him with a £40 fixed penalty notice. When he failed to pay within 28 days this rose to £60 and when he failed to pay that the case was reported to the procurator fiscal and taken to court, where Johnstone was fined £80.
Jackie told The Courier: “We have been very much in demand and I think we’ve made quite a difference, particularly in the Tayport, Newburgh, Cupar and St Andrews areas.
“There’s a real problem down at the East Sands in St Andrews and also down by Anstruther. People seem to think it’s OK to let their dogs foul the beach because they think the water will come in and wash it away but they seem to forget that children might be playing in the area.”
Elaine Devine, Fife Council service manager, enforcement and commercial operations, said Fife’s first successful prosecution under the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 came in 2004 after an incident in November 2003 at Ladybank. This, she recalled, was the first case of its kind in Scotland.
She said other cases had gone to court and in some cases the individuals had appealed. However, the case at Cupar Sheriff Court last week was only the fourth Fife case in that time to go right through the courts for a prosecution.
There had, however, been numerous fixed penalty notices and a huge increase in the number of complaints. Fife Council received 143 reports from members of the public in the north east of the region last year, with 37 fixed penalty notices being issued as a consequence.
She said: “There are 19 officers across Fife with the power to issue fixed penalty notices. The situation regarding dog fouling across Fife has always been an improving one and certainly having a dedicated resource has made a difference.
“Most people are very responsible and do pick up their mess. But some dog owners let the side down.”