Cork City Council accused of ‘shrugging shoulders’ when it comes to dog fouling

CORK City Council has been accused of ‘shrugging its shoulders’ in the face of a dog fouling issue in the city.

Just one dog fouling fine was issued by Cork City Council in 2022, and none had been issued up to the end of March this year.

The local authority has cited what it described as barriers to issuing fines, including a lack of eye-witnesses and a lack of witnesses willing to go to court. In the county however, 17 dog fouling fines were issued last year.

Labour local area representative Peter Horgan said their should be “joined-up thinking’ on the matter between the two local authorities. When asked about the difference in the number of dog fouling fines issued by Cork local authorities last year, a spokesperson for Cork City Council said:

“When comparing statistics it is important to do so in a fair and equitable manner. Cork County Council has five times more dog licences than Cork City Council.

“It is thus logical and proper that we would issue less fines for dog fouling.

“Given the fact that we have less that 20% of the dogs as in the county, we should therefore issue 80% less fines.”

“Thus, if the county issued 17 fines then the corresponding figure for the city would be three and not 17,” they added.

Addressing the matter of actually issuing dog fouling fines, the spokesperson said: “The difficulty in issuing fines is that the litter warden must actually witness both the dog depositing faeces, and the person in control of the dog neglecting to remove the faeces.

“The practicalities associated with this mean that it is extremely challenging and time consuming to issue fines for such offences.

“Alternatively, a member of the public who witnesses an offence can make a complaint,” they added. In such cases, a fine will issue if the complainant is prepared to go to court if necessary and give evidence.

“The legal requirement for the complainant to go to court in such cases is a barrier for members of the public proceeding with their complaint, as anonymity is often required by members of the public who report such instances.” 

'GIVING UP ON THE MATTER'

However Mr Horgan said the county council has been more “proactive”.

“The comments from the city council on this issue previously, in my view, was a mixture of shrugging their shoulders and giving up on the matter.

“On the other hand, the county council has been proactive on the issue. This can really be seen in Carrigaline, where they have dog fouling bins, and in Little Island, where they also have the bins.

“It’s deeply frustrating to see the lack of joined-up thinking between the two local authorities on the matter of dog fouling,” Mr Horgan said.

“People don’t differentiate between the borders of the county and the city when it comes to dumping, which is essentially what dog fouling is.

“There must be some cross local authority measure implemented to ensure that enforcement is consistent across both local authorities, and that those who flout the law are fined and made to pay that fine.”