COUNCILLORS and officials have called for the public’s help after an increase in dog fouling complaints in Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands.
An officer admitted that no penalty charge notices had been issued against dog owners who did not clear up after their pet, due to not having been caught in the act.
A councillor also appealed for a visit from Argyll and Bute Council’s environmental wardens to Tarbert after complaints about the state of a local football field.
The discussion took place at a meeting of the council’s Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands area committee on Wednesday, September 3.
Councillor John Armour (SNP, South Kintyre) said: “There has been an increase in the number of dog fouling complaints. How many of these have led to penalty notices?”
Tom Murphy, the council’s operations manager, responded: “We have not served any penalty notices. The difficulty around that is catching people in the act of not clearing up after their dog.
“I had a number of people raising concerns in another area last year and I advised them that they could become corroborating officers.
“They do not need to assist us, but to give us details of a regular person walking their dog at a certain time, and we can then assign an officer in that area.
“But we need greater help in trying to eradicate this horrible situation where people do not clear up after their dogs. To date, we have issued no penalty notices.”
Councillor Armour added: “I appreciate that we need members of the public to report and give names, and that is always a difficult one.
“But it can be done if there are people walking their dogs in the same area that can be caught. It can be reported as well.”
Councillor Anne Horn (SNP, Kintyre and the Islands) then said: “I have had reports about the fields in Tarbert. Pupils from the academy came up to see me and said that when they go down for a game of football, they are having to shovel away dog fouling.
“If we could have a visit, then there is quite often an issue after the schools are out. We did in the past have a sign up and if we could have one with a phone number for people to report, that would be useful.”
Mr Murphy said: “I will bring that up and we will look to step up patrols. We will see if any previous banners are available and look to get them set up in the playing fields as well.”
