In Stoke, new legal powers to control the behaviour of dogs in public places have come into effect. The Stoke-on-Trent authority can enforce specific orders under Section 55 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, 2005.
The introduction of the first dog control orders in the city follows a four-week public consultation exercise in May and June, when residents were asked what issues they wanted the city’s dog control orders to address and where they would like these restrictions to apply. In line with views expressed during the consultation, the council has opted to impose:
• A blanket control order making it an offence to fail to clean up dog mess in any public place in the city (i.e. anywhere other than on private land);
• An order requiring owners to keep dogs on a lead in all cemeteries, town centres and shopping areas;
• An exclusion order banning all dogs from sports pitches and fenced children’s play areas.
Anyone caught breaching a control order will be given an £80 fixed penalty notice. Failure to pay the fine can lead to prosecution, leading to fines of up to £1,000 on conviction.
Councillor Andy Platt, the city council’s cabinet member for green enterprises and clean city, said: “We carried out a citywide consultation on dog control orders earlier this year, which showed that there was strong public support for tighter controls on dogs in public places, and in particular for action to tackle dog fouling across the city.
“These orders will give us powers to make owners more responsible for their pets’ behaviour in specific locations, such as public parks and children’s play areas. We hope that the debate and publicity around bringing in control orders will help to educate people about the problems that poorly-controlled dogs can cause in our communities and spur the minority of irresponsible dog owners to change their ways. We’ve been careful to consider the views of dog owners in deciding how to use control orders and feel that the approach we’ve chosen strikes a fair balance between vocal demands for tighter restrictions and the rights of responsible dog owners to exercise and enjoy their pets.
“Although technically the orders will come into effect on Tuesday, people shouldn’t expect to see an overnight transformation. We will continue to gather information about specific problems and hotspots and take action where we see orders being breached, but most dog owners won’t notice any major changes after the orders come into force.”
