Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Kent’s dog poo capital labelled ‘dump’ by locals
The dog poo capital of Kent has been branded a “dump” by concerned residents - as they claim its parks are littered with muck. A Gazette investigation has discovered local authorities across the county have received 2,575 reports of uncleaned mess from locals since 2020.
But just 1% of the incidents have resulted in owners being slapped with fixed-penalty notices - as council bosses say it is a difficult issue to crack down on.
Ashford, Gravesham and Sevenoaks council enforcement officers have not ordered anyone to cough up over the period, despite receiving almost 500 dog poo reports in all.
Our findings show mess was spotted on the streets of Dover, Deal and Sandwich more than anywhere else in the county. Local Danielle Connolly is not surprised the district is the worst-hit in Kent, having pursued a man four years ago who she claimed had repeatedly dropped bags of dog muck near her home in The Linces.
“It makes Dover look like a dump,” she said.
“Even in the parks and that you’ve got dog poo everywhere. It’s like, why? If you can’t pick up your dog’s poo then don’t have a dog, quite simple. “It’s poo, it’s like me or you turning round and pooing on the floor and just walking off it’s no different really.”
In all, uncleaned dog muck was spotted in the Dover district 435 times by residents between 2020 and 2022.
But the local authority only issued five fines for the offence over the same period. Folkestone and Hythe had the second-highest number of reports, with 419. Meanwhile, Maidstone and Medway ranked third and fourth respectively. Folkestone litter-pick organiser Jon O’connor says the volume of dog poo in his town is an “absolute turn-off” to visitors. “You have a nice day out, and you’ve got muck on your shoe,” he explained.
“If I walk five minutes from my house to the town centre there’s a fair chance I’ll see six or seven piles people have left behind because they can’t be bothered.” Folkestone and Hythe District Council enforcement boss Stuart Peall believes the high number of cases can be attributed to the authority being “more comprehensive in our reporting” of the issue.
The Conservative politician also says catching irresponsible dog owners in the act is “incredibly hard”.
“The moment an owner sees an enforcement officer in the area, they will clean up,” the Tory added.
“We’ve had individuals who, if they’ve not got a bag with them, they’ll use a handkerchief or a sock or their own hands, to avoid the fine.”
One in 10 reports made to Dartford Borough Council about uncleaned mess led to fines. Meanwhile, Sevenoaks had just 54 reports of dog muck since 2020. Authority bosses put their success down to their insistence that canines do not “roam freely in the streets”, their promotion of responsible pet ownership and free poo-bag giveaways at events.
A Sevenoaks District Council spokesman said: “Our street cleaning team are out frequently and will clean any dog fouling they come across.
“We also have 1,250 bins, all of which can be used to deposit dog fouling in bags.”
Senior Dover councillor Martin Bates (Con) stresses the situation across his district is better nowthanitusedtobe.
The Cabinet member says when he was a child “you’d walk up on the pavement and invariably, if you weren’t watching where you were going, go home with a smelly shoe”.
“The council’s dog poo bag dispensers have been quite successful, and our intention is to expand that scheme,” Cllr Bates said.
“I don’t think there are more incidents of dog fouling here it’s more a case that we’ve tried to be as proactive as possible.”