City dogs and owners on their best behaviour

Stats show a slight fall in pet pooch categories across Dundee

DOG owners in Dundee seem to be improving at cont rol l i ng t he i r pet’s bad behaviour – but only slightly.

The biggest improvement is actually seen in the attitude of owners themselves, who are better at cleaning up their dog’s faeces.

In 2016, Dundee City Council received 1,024 reports of dog fouling and issued 14 written warnings to owners.

Last year, it received 833 reports of owners leaving behind their dog’s dirty business and it issued just seven written warnings.

However, incidents of dog aggression remain relatively unchanged.

In 2016, there were 220 reports made of aggressive dogs, compared to 202 last year, and written warnings have dropped from 64 issued in 2016 to 50 last year.

But dog control notices – when the council imposes conditions on the owner to keep their pet under control in public – have increased slightly from 20 in 2016 to 23 last year.

Reports of dog barking have dropped from 304 to 283 and written warnings dropped from seven to six.

Incidents of stray dogs reported to the council have also fallen from 218 to 163, and miscellaneous dog reports have dropped from 125 to 101. There is also a very slight increase in written warnings issued under this general category, with nine written warnings i ssued i n 2016 compared to 11 last year.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “Responsible dog ownership plays a large part in keeping Dundee a great place to live, work and visit.

“If a dog is dangerously out of control in any public place this should be reported immediately to Police Scotland for possible action under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

“We can also investigate and record reports received involving dogs which are out of control and we can offer advice and issue a warning letter, or in extreme cases we may issue a dog control notice.

“We actively encourage dog owners to clear up after their dog. Across the city there is in excess of 1,300 dog waste bins which annually collects approximately 180 tonnes of dog waste.”

Other figures gained from NHS Tayside show that there has also been a small drop in the number of patients submitted to hospital with dog-related injuries from 176 patients i n 2016 to 167 patients last year.