Forget horses, should dogs have nappies?

KERRY Mayor Michael O’Shea this week asked Kerry County Council if dogs should wear nappies in a bid to help keep Kerry’s streets cleaner.

The question, which raised eyebrows during Monday’s monthly meeting of the council, arose during the presentation of the council’s annual litter pollution report for 2016.

“Should there now be nappies on dogs,” the councillor queried, adding: “If there’s a company out there to look at designing nappies for dogs they should do so. Dog fouling is totally unacceptable on streets where there are restaurants, shops and people”.

Cllr O’Shea’s comments brought back memories of the ‘horse nappy’ debate in Killarney which, following a lengthy stand-off, eventually resulted in jarvies taking the proposal on board.

The report was presented by Director of Services, John Breen, who highlighted litter prevention, enforcement, education, recycling and public awareness measures.

Some 24 tonnes of fly-tipping was collected in 2016, six tonnes less than the 2015 figure. Mr Breen credited this reduction to a combination of activation measures between the local authority and community groups, paying tribute to the Tidy Towns groups and volunteers. “People might notice that many of the rubbish bags collected during County Clean-Up day are still there. But it’s policy to leave the bags out for a time after the collection as the visual impact of the amount of rubbish collected serves as a reminder of the problem,” Mr Breen said.

The report also outlined enforcement action taken in 2016 by KCC which saw 676 litter pollution cases investigated, 71 on-the-spot fines of €150 issued, and nine prosecutions with €3,020 costs awarded to the council.

The report was met with support from the chamber, although frustration among councillors was also evident. Cllr Jimmy Moloney welcomed the report but said the law needs to be more stringent.

Cllr Donal Grady said without volunteers the county would be in a bad way, adding: “If 13 percent of people can’t account for where they dispose of their litter, then we should be doing more.”

Councillors also said a €150 on-the-spot fine was not enough to deter people. “Let’s make it pay for us to catch them,” said Cllr Sam Locke. Councillors Norma Foley and Terry O’Brien focused on more security measures as a deterrent.