Consultation on Dog Control Orders

Overview

At a meeting of the Cabinet on 19 June 2006 it was agreed that the proposal for the making of Dog Control Orders under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 should go out to consultation, as required by the Act. The Cabinet delegated authority to the Director of Environment in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment to agree the detailed implementation of Dog Control Orders under the Clean Neighbourhoods Act 2005 following consultation.

A poster campaign was carried out and information was given on paper by post and via the Council's website. Consultation was carried out as follows between 29 September and the end of October 2006:

- Public notice in the Richmond and Twickenham Times on 29 September

- Posters advertising the issue of dog fouling/dog related issues inviting people to log onto www.richmond.gov.uk/dogs or call or write for more information/copy of the questionnaire

- Membership of Kennel Club - KC Dog

 - Web based information and questionnaire

Read the final report below for details of the consultation and materials used.

264 on line questionnaire forms were completed. 74 letters were received, mostly on the subject of multiple dog walking. The detailed results are in Appendix 7 of the below document. Most of the other questions were not addressed and the results of the letter consultation may not be reliable in terms of analysis on the other points, therefore no majority view has been shown, except that relating to multiple dog walking.

 What issues were raised?

- Detailed comments were made suggesting the inclusion of some sites as dog free, such as cemeteries.

- Some sites were raised for dogs to be kept on leads – e.g. Crane Park Island – reflecting existing restrictions under byelaws, or current custom and practice.

- A substantial number of comments were made about restricting the numbers of dogs walked by any one person to 4. Many people felt this was unnecessarily restrictive and would add to dog walking charges.

What has happened as a result?

Recommendations:

1. Dog fouling Make a Dog Control Order in respect of failure to remove dog faeces from any open land accessible by the public.

2. Make a Dog Control Order to exclude dogs from fenced, dog free areas.

3. Make a Dog Control Order to restrict dogs by requiring people to keep them on a lead.

4. Do not make a Dog Control Order to restrict numbers of dogs being walked by one person.

5. Authorise the following officers to enforce Dog Control Orders and issue Fixed Penalty Notices:

Council officers: Street Scene Enforcement Officers; Parks Patrol Officers; Street Scene Inspectors; specifically authorised contractors' staff, authorised by the Director of Environment.

Metropolitan Police Officers: Police Officers, Police Community Support Officers, Special Police Officers.

The Director of Environment has approved these recommendations formally and the Council has formally enacted these Dog Control Orders. Information about the Dog Control Orders at the webpage below.

Our Street Scene Enforcement Team have begun educating the public about the Dog Control Orders (see webpage link below) as well as planning and executing targeted enforcement operations in areas where dog fouling is a particular problem.