Dog fouling proved to be a contentious issue for Perth and Kinross councillors.
The community safety and environment committees spent over an hour discussing how to deal with offenders. At one point Councillor Lewis Simpson jokingly suggested “Tasering” irresponsible owners.
Between 2012/13, the animal welfare team dealt with 559 dog fouling complaints, but only issued six fixed penalty notices.
Head of environmentaland consumer services Keith McNamara revealed that just four wardens cover both dog control and animal welfare.
“We are targeting hot spot areas we can take action over,” he said.
“We are also looking to encourage a green dog owner scheme, where people will take it upon themselves to approach other dog walkers to educate them, as well as give them dog fouling bags.
“We issue a million dog fouling bags to people every year and our officers carry out a number of presentations and visits to schools.”
Mr McNamara also told both committees that it was difficult to catch people in the act.
He continued: “We carry out mobile patrols in the city centre and if we are there, people aren’t likely to let their dog foul.”
Carrying out undercover surveillance was suggested by Councillor Archie Maclellan but he was advised that dog fouling was not seen as a serious enough issue to warrant such measures.
The relatively minor nature of the offences also means that when people do not pay fixed penalty notices, they are very rarely chased by the courts.
Meanwhile, during the environment committee meeting, Councillor Dennis Melloy said he was “disappointed” in the report, adding: “I would suggest the 559 dog fouling complaints received in 2012/13 are just the tip of the iceberg.
“I would say I receive at least five or six each week, which I then pass on to the dog warden, but it just seems to be continuing. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but something has to be done.”