Attention Dog Owners - Important

Information for Dog Owners Visitors and Locals

Cornwall Council operates a zero tolerance policy towards dog fouling. Following standardisation of control orders across Cornwall - from the 16th July 2010 it is an offence not to clean up after your dog (and properly dispose of faeces) on all land to which the public are entitled access by way of payment or not.

All of the publicly accessed land in Cornwall is therefore designated and includes beaches, footpaths, roads, playing fields, verges and certain private land.

• The fixed penalty notice fee for failing to remove dog faeces is £80.00 (£50.00 if paid within 10 days).
• Prosecution may result in fines of up to £1000.00

The Act stipulates that 'being unaware of the defecation (whether by reason of not being in the vicinity or otherwise), or not having a device or other suitable means of removing the faeces shall not be a reasonable excuse for failing to remove the faeces'.

Under the Act no offence is committed if:

• The person in charge of the dog is registered blind.
• The landowner, on whose land the fouling has taken place, has given consent for the faeces to be left on the ground.

The council has installed a considerable number of dog waste bins across the county that are emptied regularly, you are able to put bagged dog waste in a normal litter bin. If you cannot find a convenient dog bin then you must bag up the faeces and take it home.

If you would like to report dog fouling - Cornwall Council will investigate all complaints that are received - although the level of service that they can provide will obviously vary depending upon the quality of information that is provided. For example they would be in a better position to take action should you be able to provide a full description of what happened (including date, time, location, what you witnessed, description of the dog/owner and as much information as possible about the incident - also any information regarding the offender - which could include name/address (if known), vehicle registration number or any other identifying feature.

It is only with people getting involved and reporting problems in their neighbourhood that they will be able to solve more problems and take more enforcement action on issues such as dog fouling.

If you would like any more information or wish to report a problem, please either e-mail envhealthandlicensing@cornwall.gov.uk or telephone to talk to your local Dog Welfare and Enforcement Officer on 0300 1234 212.

Source:
Cornwall Council Dog Fouling
Cornwall Council Dog Control