Co Down referee blows whistle on hazardous dog mess amid calls for CCTV to catch offenders

Lisburn and Castlereagh has an annual average of 300 dog mess complaints but only two fines enforced last year.

Co Down children playing in football fields riddled with dog mess could see cameras deployed to catch owners at “hot spot” fouling zones.

The new surveillance tactic was recently requested at Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) as an elected member highlighted the dangerous dog fouling problem at her son’s sports grounds.

Statistics from an environmental crime report before the chamber showed that despite an average of 300 complaints of dog fouling in the district annually, wardens were only able to catch and fine two pet owner’s last year.

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Lisburn North Alliance councillor, Nicola Parker said:”Could the council look towards investing in CCTV to catch dog owners letting their pets foul and not picking it up?

“My son plays football at the Moira Demesne and recently the referee had to stop the match every 10 minutes to pick up dog mess.”

The paper before LCCC shows the council issued almost 10k dog licences in 2024/25 a drop from nearly 14k in 2021/22. The lower number was said to be due to a lack of administration staff to chase up old licences that had gone out of date. A matter that has now been resolved.

The chamber was told that a new responsible dog ownership campaign to be produced by Daera (Department of agriculture, environment and rural affairs) would soon be released by all Northern Ireland local authorities.

A council officer responded:”If there was a particular hot spot for dog fouling we could consider putting up CCTV.

“However, in terms of issuing fixed penalty notices, what we have found is that when people know they are being watched they do not allow their dogs to mess. It’s only when they aren’t being watched that they don’t pick it up.

“With the amount of complaints compared to fixed penalties, it is more about empowering witnesses to make statements. The role of the community is not to be underestimated.”

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