Residents back tough measures to tackle dog fouling
PEOPLE living in parts of South Wales have given their backing to carrying on with tough measures to tackle dog fouling.
Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) Council’s cabinet has extended the existing tough measures to tackle dog fouling across the county for another three years.
The council said the response from the public to the current public space protection order (PSPO), which has been in place for three years, has been overwhelmingly positive.
In an independent report produced by Keep Wales Tidy, dog fouling on RCT streets reached an all-time low – with dog fouling being recorded on 9.6% of streets in 2019-20.
This is only the second time since 2007/08 that dog fouling has been found on fewer than 10% of streets across the county.
During May, residents were given the chance to take part in a fourweek consultation process on whether the existing measures should be extended.
More than 90% of respondents agreeing with each of the elements of the Dog Control PSPOs and that they should be continued over the next three years.
The order will see the following rules continue to be enforced:
■Dog owners must clean up their dog mess immediately and dispose of it properly;
■dog owners must carry means to pick up dog mess (i.e. bags) at all times;
■dog owners must follow a direction from an authorised officer to put a dog on a lead;
■dogs are banned from all schools, children’s play areas and marked sports pitches maintained by the council; and
■dogs must be kept on a lead at all times in council-maintained cemeteries.
The order allows enforcement officers to issue a £100 fixed penalty notice for failure to adhere to any of the above.
A separate PSPO, for Aberdare Park only, was also introduced in 2017, and states that dogs must be kept on leads at all times in Aberdare Park – this will also now be extended for three years.