We all know that dogs that foul parks and pavements are irritating, unpleasant and a threat to public health. Barking and Dagenham council are now taking action against owners who do not clean up after their animals.
The new proposal is that if dog owners wish to use the council’s parks or public spaces, they will need to have their dogs DNA profiled and added to a database.
Any faeces left in parks or on streets will be DNA tested and compared against the database. If the council identifies a match, the owner will face a fine of £150.
The new public spaces protection order shall make it an offence to use the park if the dog has not been profiled. Council staff will patrol the parks with a chip reader to ensure that the order is enforced. All dogs will have to be micro chipped and the council is offering this for free for the first 1,000 dogs that are registered.
It is believed the scheme will act as a deterrent after all dogs are required to be chipped from April. It is the first scheme of its type in the UK and Barking council believe that other councils will soon follow their lead. The scheme is not only meant to provide a cleaner, more pleasant environment but also a cost cutting exercise. The council spends many thousands of pounds each year trying to keep their public spaces clean.