Doggy doo can land you in the poo

YOUR pooch pooing in public may set you back R500.

Richard Bosman, the City’s executive director for safety and security, said an amendment was made to the Animal 2010 by-law that was promulgated in 2011.

But the City hasn’t the resources to police every area where people walk their dogs, he added.

“We depend on residents to report these types of offences to our officers so that it can be investigated. Residents should take down registration numbers of cars and gather any other information that may assist officers to deal with those who disobey the law,” said Bosman.

The regulation states: “If any dog defecates in any public street, public place or public road, any person in control of such dog, excluding a person assisted by a guide dog, should remove the excrement, place it in a plastic or paper bag or wrapper and dispose of it in a receptacle provided for the deposit of litter or refuse, excluding a person who is assisted by a guide dog.”

Also, “no person may walk a dog, other than a guide dog, in a public street, public place or public road, without carrying a sufficient number of plastic or paper bags or wrapper to place the excrement of the dog”.

Bosman said the City had a host of by-laws regulating animals and the current by-law sought to consolidate it all to allow uniform application across the city.

“The by-law has a schedule which sets out what was repealed. It will not be possible to determine the fines of previous administrations,” he added.

The Sea Point, Fresnaye and Bantry Bay Ratepayers and Residents Association said it has a safety and cleaning initiative, which has seen the installation of several “doggy poo-bag dispensers” along the Sea Point Promenade, as well as distributed as many as 150 000 doggy poo bags per annum.

The bags are replenished daily by a team which includes the homeless.

Chapter two of the by-law states the restriction on the number of dogs and the city council can also determine the number of dogs kept on a property at any given time.

The owners of a property where one or more dogs are kept must register the animals with the council or risk being fined.

Registration must take place within four months of the dog’s birth or within 30 days of acquiring a dog on a property within council’s jurisdictional boundaries. Owners of dogs in heat will not be allowed to walk them in public.

Dogs found in public without a leash can also be removed by the city council, and may only be unleashed in designated free-running parks.