The vast majority of dog owners are responsible and clear up and dispose of their dog faeces in a dog bin or litter bin. However, a small minority of irresponsible dog owners can cause considerable distress to residents by failing to clear up after their dog.
Dog fouling is highly unpleasant, it defaces the local environment and can pose a significant risk to public health through the risk of infection by roundworm parasites such as toxicara, and from other microorganisms such as salmonella.
The whole of the district of South Norfolk and Broadland is covered by a Public Spaces Protection Order made under section 59 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.
This Order makes it an offence for any person in control of a dog not to clear up their dog’s faeces immediately on land that is open to the air and to which the public is entitled or permitted to have access with or without payment. The Order also prohibits a person in charge of a dog from entering or permitting their dog to enter or remain in any fenced play area.
It is not a reasonable defence that the person was unaware of the defecation or did not have suitable means of removing the faeces such as not having bag available at the time.
The Order does not apply to an assistance dog trained by a registered charity.
Offenders can be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £80, reduced to £60 if paid within 10 days. Failure to pay the fixed penalty notice will result in the matter being referred for prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court. A person convicted of failing to comply with the Order is liable to a fine of up to £1,000.
Repeat offenders will not be offered a fixed penalty notice and will instead be considered for prosecution.
Changing the behaviour of just a few thoughtless dog owners through education, improved communication and enforcement can make a really big difference to the quality of lives of some residents.
If you see someone allowing their dog to foul and they fail to clear it up, then please contact us with the owner’s details, if you know them and where it happened so we can investigate further.
If there is a regular pattern of dog fouling, then please let us know when the dog fouling occurs so we can target our enforcement officers. We clear dog faeces from land owned and managed by South Norfolk Council and Broadland District Council.
You can contact Broadland or South Norfolk Council and report dog fouling on our website at www.south-norfolk.gov.uk, email or by calling us on 01603 430534(BDC) 01508 533633(SNC).