Dog Fouling Enforcememt

StroudGreen.SNT · March 2012

In response to local community concerns, Stroud Green Safer Neighbourhood Team undertook patrols this morning (09/03/2012), in conjunction with London Borough of Haringey enforcement officers. These patrols concentrated in the areas that the council have had the most complaints about recently around Stroud Green Road, Upper Tollington Park, Perth Road, Woodstock Road, Florence Road, Lancaster Road and Victoria Road (and the smaller roads running off of these). Although evidence of dog fouling was on the pavements, nobody was 'caught in the act'. Lots of dog walkers were spoken to, informed of our actions and encouragingley all of those spoken to had a bag in their posession to clean up after their dogs. We have more of these operations planned in the coming weeks and months and anybody caught not cleaning up after their dogs will be prosecuted. PC Paul Kane 263YR Stroud Green SNT Follow @MPSHaringey on Twitter

rainbow_carnage · March 2012

The older couple who live opposite me on Woodstock Road have a habit of letting out their dog just in front of the house, letting him shit on the pavement, then carrying him back in. <br>

vetski · March 2012

<P>@StroudGreen.SNT, would it be helpful if we sent you any photos we might manage to get of people/dogs? I quite frequently see dogs fouling as I'm quite close to the Park, and might be able to catch them on my phonecam. </P>

rainbow_carnage · March 2012

It's impossible to catch most of these people 'in the act'. You can't follow them around waiting for the dog to take a shit. Why not stop dog walkers and demand to see their poop scoop, baggy, or whatever they use to clean up after their dogs. Anyone who isn't carrying one should be fined. Obviously, having one doesn't guarantee they'll use it, but a lack of one guarantees that they won't.<br>

Brodiej · March 2012

Ok, so less dog shit on the pavement is a good thing, but i wouldn't class it in the "danger to the neighbourhood category" unless you stick your hand in it and then prepare a meal at home. My view is geuinely thanks for listening, but sometimes tell us to shut up and concentrate your resources on reducing crime and fear of crime in the community...in difficult times, lets not worry about the dog shit for now.

yagamuffin · March 2012

@Brodiej Wrong! If we let the small stuff go where do we stop? I am glad the police/council are taking action against the scum who leave dog crap everywhere.<div>If we let the streets turn in to a mess the vandals have more excuse to mess it up more. First dog shit, then littering, then graffitti, then gangs of children hanging around causing menace, before you know it someone is killed during a mugging.</div><div>Do the small stuff, keep the streets clean and it's easier for the rest to follow...</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>

Brodiej · March 2012

You're absolutely right. Get 10 squad cars down SGR before the place becomes a no-go area. It doesn't take the police to tell someone to stop their dog taking a sht on the pavement. Do it your yourself.

SimonB · March 2012

They mostly come out at night ... mostly

StroudGreen.SNT · March 2012

We can only act within the boundaries of the law. @rainbow_carnage There is no law to state that dog walkers have to carry a poop scoop or bag with them, so I can't demand to see one. People we spoke to this morning where asked if they had one and where more than happy to show us that they did and I had no reason to believe they wouldn't use it if necessary.<div><br></div><div>@Brodiej The Police are not taking the lead on this, the council are. We regularly work with them on a whole manner of different issues. Dog Fouling is a criminal offence of which Council Enforcement Officers have the power to deal with. Any prosecutions would primarily be dealt with by the council. We would have been on foot patrol this morning anyway, so why not concentrate on this for a few hours? </div><div><br></div><div>It is very difficult to catch someone in the act, but hopefully people knowing that we are out and about, speaking to and educating dog owners about what we are doing, may make some think twice.</div><div><br></div><div>@vetski Unfortunately just a picture would not be enough. We would still need to identify who the people were and a statement would be needed from you to say what you saw, which may mean you going to court to give evidence if the dog owner denied it. If an enforcement officer or I need to attend court, then that's not an issue as it is part of our job, but not all members of the public would be willing to do this.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>

RedSturgeon · March 2012

@SimonB - so now we need Sigourney Weaver AND the SNT AND the council?<br>

ChangN4N6 · March 2012

Well done PC Paul Kane. I have a little dog myself (he is called Rooney) and we have trained him not to mess in the street. It's important to catch ppl who are antisocial and shit everywhere (i mean there dog's) . I support what u r doing. Chang

berrynice · March 2012

It's nice to see some effort to keep the streets clean. We have a strange issue on my street - someone goes to the effort of picking up their dog's productions and puts them in a bag... but then leaves the bag in the street with the result that our street is littered with black bags full of poo! We have a plan to put out hidden cameras and find out who's doing it. As SimonB says - they do come mostly at night...

ashman · March 2012

This is why london will always be a place where you have to watch your back just incase you get stabbed by some little kid or a crackhead. Because people rather waste their time and energy trying to clean up dog shit instead of make the streets better.dog shit doesnt kill,knives do. But i guess shit is more of an issue?

not the little kids dying everyday?

gardener-joe · March 2012

heated references to teenage knife crime seems a bit of a distraction ... is knife crime a major issue in SG? ... looking at the crime stats I think not ... I am all for local policing addressing local issues ... and if for the present time this is dog fouling on pavements, then so be it ... it won't neccesarily be so for ever howver, for those who want actively to steer policy ... rather than passively complain about it ... the effective way to steer local policing policies is to joining the local police consultative committee

rainbow_carnage · March 2012

I very much hope that the poop patrol are not the same people who investigate knife crime.<br>

Idoru · March 2012

I suspect it's not an either/or situation. I doubt that officers get into work in the morning and ask: poo or knife crime? POO! <br>

ChangN4N6 · March 2012

give the police a break you moaners. they do a very good job with some nasty bastards out there letting dogs mess and knifing kids. they tackle both. Chang

sharybo · March 2012

I think this is great news. I'm quite sure most people that don't clear up after their dogs do so because they are quite confident that no-one bothers to enforce the fines. Hopefully if patrols like this are carried out every now and then they will realise there is actually a chance they could be fined. It's a shame you didn't manage to catch anyone, because I think it may take a few people actually getting fined for the message to really get across. <div><br></div><div>I don't think comments about knife crime are helpful. Anti social behaviour such as dog fouling and dropping litter shouldn't be ignored, and these are things the council should be concentrating on instead of focusing totally on the parking restrictions. I'm sure they could make a good income from fining people that drop litter and let their dogs crap everywhere if they put as much energy into that as they do parking fines!</div>

chode · March 2012

Fantastic use of police resources. Find people letting their dogs shit on the pavement, and raise some more money for the government through financial penalties. How about creating some more jobs for shit shovellers instead with some of the extortionate council taxes they take from us.<br><br>Yes let the criminals run amok, raising money for the other criminals is more important! What next? yes maybe the dog owners need to buy plastic dog shit bags from the council for £1.50 each. Ordinary ones will result in a fine.<br>

chode · March 2012

Vetski, you should be ashamed of yourself. That's exactly what they want, people spying on each other. Do you want your kids to grow up in a police state?<br>

chode · March 2012

and Sharybo, you're right about the parking, another racket, but you pay your council tax to keep the streets clean, the police should be concentrating on street crime, not dog shit.<br>

chode · March 2012

and Gardener Joe, keep your ears open, search through some of the local news, and you'll find there's been plenty of knife crime around SG. 1 incident is too much, but there's been a few. Don't believe crime stats, wherever you're getting them from.<br>

andy · March 2012

@chode: i don't think it's such an either/or thing - I'm sure you can talk to dog owners for an hour in the morning and spend the rest of the day on knife crime.

vetski · March 2012

@chode, I don't have kids so it's a moot point - but if I did, given how close I live to the park, I wouldn't want them to step in dogshit and end up with a staph infection the second they put one foot beyond the front gate. I'm not wild about stepping it in either! Allowing your dog to foul the pavement is an offence. I attempt to be a responsible citizen, I'd report a burglar or a mugger and have reported a murder, so why should I distinguish between types of offence? Isn't that the role of the police & judicial system?

sharybo · March 2012

<P>Well I guess there are many different ways to deal with these issues, but the underlying problem is people's behaviour. In reality, it's a small minority of ignorant people ruining it for everyone else. Why should our council tax be spent on street cleaners and not something far more worthwhile such as facilities for disabled children, or libraries? It wouldn't ocur to me to walk along the road and throw my sandwich packet onto the street, or to let my dog shit on the pavement and just leave it, yet it seems that quite a lot of people think this is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. I'd like to see some fines being given for litter dropping/dog fouling, then perhaps some of the income from that could be used in educating people not to do it in the first place. Maybe the parking enforcement officers could give out fines for litter/dog fouling too - after all they are patrolling the streets all day, and have cameras with them already. </P>

vetski · March 2012

@sharybo, that is an excellent suggestion about CEOs - you should suggest it to the council/local councillors.

gardener-joe · March 2012

@chode: thanks for asking about crime stats (albeit asking perhaps rather more gracelessly than was quite necessary) ... they are on the Metropolitan Police website called "Latest Crime FIgures For London". [<A HREF="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chode" target="_blank">Meaning of chode</A>: really?]

ADGS · March 2012

I've heard that definition used a couple of times recently, but I always understood it to mean the perineum. <br>

chode · March 2012

@gardener-joe ..ha ha, yes I was wondering when someone would find the urban dictionary! Well I just thought I'd pick something amusing for a username. I might change it if I get bored. By the way, did you call me a chode? How rude! <br><br>@vetski ..I totally agree, it's unacceptable for people to let their dogs crap all over the place, it really does annoy me, but my point is, it's a trivial offence compared to assaults and murders etc. I don't agree with all the police resources being allocated more and more to trivial "offences" such as cylists in the park, parking etc. There's a reason why it's happening, there's an agenda behind it. It's called big brother. I was just saying, don't fall into their trap without thinking about what you're doing, i.e. don't offer to spy on your peers in society, scumbags or not. You might need them on your side one day, or we end up with everyone spying on everyone else.<br>

chode · March 2012

oh and gardener Joe, don't believe police stats, they always fiddle them in their favour.<br>

Brodiej · June 2012

http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk:80/news/handful_of_fines_in_first_month_of_costly_islington_dog_mess_crackdown_1_1409717<div><br></div>;

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