Dogs

Dogs can be man's best friend or public enemy number one - depending on their owner.

Most dogs are well looked after, never cause any bother, and give their owners and their families enormous pleasure and companionship.

Responsible owners make sure their dogs never foul public places and train them from an early age to go at home. If fouling occurs away from home they clean up after their dog. They keep their dog under control at all times (whether on or off the lead), and make sure their pet never strays.

Of course accidents do happen and pets can escape. Your dog is at risk if left to roam and a family pet could easily be injured or cause an accident.

In the countryside, a farmer is entitled to shoot a loose dog if he fears it may attack livestock.

Dog Watch

Dog Watch is an initiative that has been set up using the influence of neighbourhood watch to target dog fouling in residential hot spot areas. It's aim is to deter dog owners from allowing their dogs to foul by empowering the community to take matters into their own hands. This is done through the recruitment of volunteer co-ordinators who are kitted out with: 

• Stencils
• Sprays
• High visibility jackets
• Leaflets
• "Report it" cards
• Window stickers
• Monitoring forms
• Signage

Using these resources, and a close working relationships with our street environment managers, they become the eyes and ears of the street, reporting back on results in the area and the success of the scheme. 

For more information, contact the street environment team on 01530454600

Education

A member of our team will be very happy to visit schools, clubs, voluntary organisations or other groups to talk about this work and promote responsible dog ownership. For workshops around correct dog ownership, contact the street action team on 01530454600

Our officers have worked very successfully with schools in our district to increase responsibility with dog ownership. Our assemblies have proved so popular that the "bag it & bin it" message reached over 2000 students, who took the message home the their families. In fact, during our "Green footprints Champions" campaign, we saw immediate, dramatic success at a primary school hotspot area, where through working in partnership with the school, the dog fouling rate dropped from 40 deposits per week to absolutely zero!