Regular readers will recall the Gurn's recent Freedom of Information request concerning the Highland Council Dog
Warden Service.
We received a prompt reply to the FOI
questions to the Council. It appears that the there is not a dedicated “dog
warden” but that the duties are shared by a team of 7 community works
assistants and 2 education and enforcement officers. They fit the dog warden
duties in with other stuff, including, pest control, fly tipping
investigations, abandoned vehicles, taxi licencing, litter prevention /
campaigns etc. The Council calculates that, based on the categories stated in our
questions, the cost is equivalent to that of two full time posts which would
work out at £69,777 per annum.
The total income in dog-fouling fines in the financial year 2011/12 amounted to £560; that is 14 fixed penalty
notices.
And, astonishingly, there have been no
fixed penalty notices issued in the Nairn (Ward 19) area in the last five
years.
If you are one of those inconsiderate people
who do not bother picking up your dog’s crap then it looks like you can carry
on getting away with it if the fixed penalty rate of the last five years is
anything to go by. Gurnites it appears there is no deterrent! Copy of the Council's letter here.
9 comments:
I am no economist or accountant but I would say that £560 on an outlay of £69,777 is not a good return.
Is the Highland Council just, in effect, paying lip service to the problem? It would seem from all the complaints that this particular policy is not working.
They keep on asking for suggestions on where and how to make savings, well there's £70k of waste for them!
Good work by the Gurnmeister.
Be interesting to hear the cooncilors justify this.
There is a big problem with people dropping litter and even although fines can be doled out I wonder if they ever are? Again, the legislation may be there but there is little enforcement so is it not a a waste of time employing somebody? There is a guy who goes round the town picking up litter so why not take the same attitude towards the litter problem and combine the litter picking duties with picking up doggie doo doo?
All dog owners to have their dogs chipped and their dog's DNA to be sampled. Information to be held on a central database. Dog owners would pay a fee for this that would also go towards a dedicated dog wardens in each and every town, and also to cover the likes of court fees etc
Dog wardens would then just take samples of the dog crap found in public places which would be analysed and the DNA checked out against the database
Offender would be fined and also forced to carry out community work in the form of picking up dog mess. Whilst doing this they would have to wear bright jackets with the wording 'I let my dog crap in public and just left it'
I've no-idea as to how much this would cost but it would all be met by the fees paid by dog owners and also from the court fines
I think this would be a start in tackling the problem once and for all
Dear Gurnmeisters, I have been to several local Community Council meetings and i have complained so many times to the Councilors that were there present at the meetings about this issue of dog littering and when i do complain the answer i get is there dealing with it. The honest answer to that is B..L S..T Why do they employ Dog Wardens if they cant do there job right and the Councilors as well its about time they all got of there backsides and did something because it is getting out of hand and getting worse. I would love to get a reply from the Councilors reading this as to why not.
But Robert @ 4.15, they don't seem to employ dog wardens, it just seems to be one of the many duties that the 9 people cover. So, yes, you are right it's all bull (or in this case dog) shit!
To be honest, we have 2 labs and walk them across the beach and prom every weekend, it is disgusting the amount of crap that doesn't get picked up, but on the same token, 1 bin at the swimming pool, the next bin at the Golf View!! one of our dogs takes great pleasure having a dump usually half way along!! extra bins wouldn't go amiss! the other problem you have is the police can't drive along the beach or the prom so there is little danger in them handing out fines from the inside of a vehicle!!
If you want others to love dogs as much as you love your dog then is it so it too much to ask to pick up their poo. YOU WOULD NOT LET YOUR KIDS POO IN PUBLIC AND LEAVE IT LYING AROUND SO DONT LET YOUR DOGS.
EWWWW, EWWWWW, and EWWWWW again.
Let not Nairn become a-wash with dog shit.
C'mon people, pick up pooches dumps.
Or else............
P xx
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