Dog fouling

Grab it, bag it and bin it.

Dog fouling is a national problem and many members of the public are affected by dog fouling which occurs in their local area and/or recreational areas. The Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996 Legislation was introduced to make it an offence to allow your dog to foul public land and fail to clean it up immediately.

In many areas we have installed dog waste bins as a facility for responsible dog owners who clear up after their dogs and the use of litter bins for the disposal of dog waste is now permitted.

Our Neighbourhood Wardens and Neighbourhood Dog Warden regularly patrol the borough and where necessary will issue fixed penalty notices of £75 to any person who has allowed their dog to foul and failed to clear, with a prosecution charge of up to £1000 if referred to court.

If you are regularly seeing someone allowing their dog to foul in a public place without cleaning it up, then you can complete a diary form. This will then be used to assist us with our patrols.

Please note that the information given is treated in the strictest confidence.

Enforcement of the Dog Fouling Law

The Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996 makes it is an offence to allow your dog to foul in a public place, without clearing it away immediately and disposing of it properly.

Disposing of it properly means placing it in one of the bins provided by us or taking it home, putting it in another bag and placing inside your wheelie bin.

If you are regularly seeing someone allowing their dog to foul in a public place without cleaning it up, then you can pass this information onto our Neighbourhood Wardens on 0845 907 2244. Every dog fouling complaint is investigated. Our Neighbourhood Wardens will visit the area and if possible, put up signs to remind people about the laws on dog fouling.

Prosecution of offenders

Our Neighbourhood Wardens actively patrol the Borough to catch dog owners who do not clear up after their dog has fouled.

A fixed penalty notice of £75 will be issued to anyone who allows their dog to foul on public land.

We will actively prosecute anyone that does not discharge their liability to conviction in court, this could lead to a fine of £1000 in court.

Solutions not to get prosecuted:

If you have a garden encourage the dog to "go" there. You can then bury the mess or alternatively clean it up and bin it.
If you walk your dog always carry the means to clear up after your dog. A simple plastic bag will do the trick or obtain a poop scoop from your local pet shop.
Remember to take a bag or poop scoop like you'd remember a lead. Every time your dog fouls "bag it and bin it".
Remember Rain does not wash the problem away. Never let your dog out alone to "go to the loo".

You can contact our Neighbourhood Wardens by:

email: contactcentre@erewash.gov.uk
Tel: 0845 907 2244
Minicom: 0115 931 6056 (for hearing and impaired people – available during normal opening hours)

Pride-line (opens in a new window): 0115 850 8383 (24 hours confidential hot-line)
Our PRIDE in Erewash Campaign has a confidential 24-hour hotline which gives residents the power to tackle environmental crime in their local area.

For out of hours emergencies please call 0845 907 2244.

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