Annandale North Councillor Graeme Tait, who lives in Lockerbie and has four dogs, wants to raise awareness that people who do not clean up after their pooches will now be hit with an increased fine of £80.
He said: “I really want to to raise awareness of the increase in fine. I think educating people about the risk of an increased fine will hopefully deter people from leaving their pet’s mess.”
Saying that he believes the whole of Annandale North is a victim of lazy pet owners, he added: “I think it is a mixture of laziness and people thinking they won’t get caught – that’s why it’s such a problem in our area.”
He added: “I would like to ask people to have common courtesy and pick up their dogs mess. The fine has now been increased and I hope people will think twice and pick the dog poo up. After all the bags are not expensive.
“If anyone sees someone not picking up the dog mess I ask them to report it to the community safety team who will investigate.”
A spokesman for Dumfries and Galloway Council explained that the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 states that it is an offence to fail to clean up immediately and properly dispose of your dog’s waste after your dog has fouled in a public area.
He said “Our community safety officers continue to broadcast the message that dog fouling won’t be tolerated in our region.
“They do this through educational initiatives and rigorous enforcement of the environmental legislation.
“To assist us, we ask that any members of the public who witness dog fouling contact their local community safety team with as much information as possible to enable us to deal with offenders.”
