Walking your dog? Take two bags or face £80 fine

DOG walkers will be fined £80 if they are not carrying two bags to clean up their pets’ mess under new rules brought in by a council.

Officials hope the move will improve Canterbury council’s record in catching offenders after it failed to fine a single owner for not cleaning up after their pet in the last two years.

In 2014-15, one owner was fined £70 for failing to clean up – the last time a punishment was meted out by the Kent authority. The new rules mean owners could be given a fixed penalty charge before their pet even leaves a mess. Officers will not have the power to search dog owners, but those who fail to produce two waste bags when asked can be punished under the new rules.

The new order will come into force at the start of next month. A council spokesman said: “The difficulty has been the need to catch perpetrators in the act, but we hope we have found a solution. The new orders still require dog owners to clear up after their pets and owners will be liable to a fixed £80 penalty notice if they do not.

“However, the new order will also require dog owners to demonstrate they have the appropriate means to clean up. If they do not, they will be liable to a fixed penalty notice. Our enforcement officers would expect responsible dog owners to carry at least two bags. In reality, responsible owners already do this. Many clear up after other people’s dogs too so all owners are not tarred by the same brush.”

Lee Paris, the Dogs Trust’s campaigns officer, said it was “deeply concerned” about the decision.

But Claire Tabony, from Whitstablebased dog care centre Kindergarten K9, welcomed the new rules. She said: “It’s pretty easy just to put a few extra in your pocket before you go out. You wouldn’t go out with a young child without packing a bag full of what you need, so why be different with a dog?”