Councillors calls for solutions to combat dog fouling in city

Cork city council focused on the topic of dog fouling again at Monday’s meeting, with two councillors tabling motions with suggestions on how to address the issue.

Fianna Fáil’s Seán Martin called for the council to put additional funding into this year’s budget to allow for the roll out of a more extensive dog bin programme in Cork city’s various parks, recreational walking areas and school runs.

Paul Moynihan, director of services for local area, development and operations, explained that the parks department and cleansing department do not provide specific bins for dog waste, as any public litter bin can be used for the disposal of dog waste.

He said: “The number of bins is considered adequate at present but is kept under review in the context of footfall at any particular location. 

“Any request from schools for the installation of additional bins will be considered on a case-by-case basis.” 

Social Democrats councillor Niamh O’Connor said that dog fouling “is a blight affecting all areas of the city, a public health risk, affects those with mobility issues and visual impairments most acutely and stands in the way of the council’s stated aim of encouraging active travel”.

She called for an evidence based solution, and suggested the council engage with Galway City Council in relation to their successful “Clean it up you dirty pup” campaign with a view to rolling out a similar campaign in Cork city in the short term.

The Galway campaign saw dog poo spray painted yellow to draw attention to the problem and to minimise people standing in it, as well as reporting on the amounts of dog poo on streets by volunteers, and it resulted in a 60% drop in dog fouling.

Ms O’Connor mentioned that after she put in her motion, a community garda in her area piloted the programme himself, spray painting dog poo pink, saying: “since then, anecdotally, from speaking to business owners on Douglas St, they have seen a decrease in dog fouling.” 

Mr Moynihan said that the council “takes the issue of dog fouling very seriously” and in 2016 established a dog fouling committee to help tackle the issue which has undertaken information and awareness campaigns and has organised a number of road show events.

The committee also runs an annual primary school poster competition to teach the next generation of dog owners about the negative impact dog fouling has on all sectors of society particularly those with mobility and visual impairment issues, he said.

Mr Moynihan added that the committee is aware of the initiative run in Galway and as part of the 2025 programme of work they agreed to consider piloting a similar type of initiative to highlight and report on the instances and level of dog fouling around the city.