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Tag Archives: dog fouling

Councillor calls foul on dog owners in Lahinch

Two motions about dog fouling, which were before the March meeting of the West Clare Municipal District (MD), gave rise to a good humoured debate amongst councillors. Councillor Liam Grant (GP)asked the council to address the serious dog fouling issues in Lahinch, requesting it to target several days to enforce dog fouling fines in an effort to stop the issue. The councillor said he wants to see something similar to the “slow down” days conducted by An Garda Síochána. He has also requested data on how many dog fouling fines have been issued by the local authority in Lahinch over the last three years. “In Lahinch, this came up as I was involved in a beach clean on the St Bridget’s Bank Holiday weekend, organised with a couple of different community groups…the amount of dog fouling – I think I counted 20 bags of poo myself,” he said. “There is a weird trend that is happening of people picking up …

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Dog foulers should be ‘shamed’

ENNIS local councillors are crying foul over irresponsible dog owners who do not clean up after their pets while walking along the popular River Fergus Walkway. Meanwhile, users of the amenity who have reported flooding on the route, have been reminded that the walkway was created on a flood plain as part of flood relief works to protect the town. Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) made a request for ‘doggie poop’ bins to be provided along the walkway at the monthly meeting of the Ennis Municipal District council. However, while the local authority in conjunction with Clarecastle Tidy Towns has recently installed anti-litter and anti-dog fouling signage on the walkway, the council have said they are not in a position to install bins. “We would have difficulty servicing this site at this time, given the distance from our normal street cleaning and litter bin maintenance route,” said Paddy Tiernan, A/Senior Executive Engineer. “We would appeal to all users of this …

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Only one dog fouling fine issued in Clare in 2021

Councillor Mary Howard has called on Clare County Council to crack down on dog fouling by giving more local authority employees the power to issues fines for this offence. Her appeal coincides with the release of a survey conducted by the National Council for the Blind Ireland that revealed the low number of on-the-spot fines issued by local authorities. Clare County Council issued one dog fouling fine in 2021 compared to 31 by Kerry County Council, four by Limerick City and County Council and none by Tipperary County Council. Interestingly, Kerry County Council had dramatically increased fines issued between 2020 and 2021. No fines were issued in 2020, jumping to 31 fines issued in 2021. While Kerry County Council is an outlier with such a large increase, the NCBI outlined the vast majority of Councils have issued very few or no fines in 2021. This may highlight a lack of enforcement but also indicates the threat of receiving a fine …

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Call to act as dog fouling remains a sticky issue

DOG fouling continues to be a “huge issue” in Killaloe, despite extensive efforts to encourage responsible ownership, the municipal district committee has been told. At last month’s meeting, Councillor Tony O’Brien called for the installation of special bins in the town to allow those walking their dogs to dispose of excrement. While the senior executive engineer (SEE) said that bins may not be necessary, as the existing ones can take dog litter, she gave an undertaking to look at the possibility of providing dispensers for litter bags. In a written response to Councillor O’Brien’s motion, SEE Niamh Madden noted that the majority of people walking dogs in public spaces are conscientious about picking up dog litter. “Unfortunately, still some dog owners … do not take proper responsibility in relation to dog fouling,” she said. “Providing dispensers and dog litter bags has benefits and encourages dog owners to be aware of their responsibilities.” Ms Madden noted that despite the best efforts …

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Step up in poo patrols as fouling issue raised

Wardens set to monitor Killaloe amenities with more dogs out and about in summer DOG fouling in East Clare is generating a huge number of complaints, according to the Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District. Councillor Pat Hayes tabled a motion on the matter at the recent district meeting when he called for urgent action. “This is something that’s cropped up a lot because of the numbers of people out with dogs in recent times,” he said. “It’s a challenge we need to deal with because the amount of complaints is huge. There’s nothing as upsetting for those using buggies and wheelchairs. It leaves a very bad impression of a wonderful day at one of our public amenities.” The Fianna Fáil member said that while the issue is a county-wide one, there are areas that are particularly badly hit in the Killaloe district. “Some people are recklessly letting their dogs off, for example at Two-Mile Gate and in public parks,” …

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€63k funding to clean up Clare

A total of €63,000 has been allocated to help the county clean up its act when it comes to littering and illegal dumping. A total of €40,000 in funding has been approved to tackle illegal dumping in Clare, with a further €23,000 pledged to crack down on litter, dog fouling and graffiti. Minister of State Breen said the aim of this funding, allocated by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment under the Anti-Dumping Initiative, is to reduce illegal dumping and nuisance litter by providing finance for projects tackling the problem. “The idea is to develop an integrated and effective combined approach with local authorities, communities and other state agencies. “This funding will empower people across Clare to take action against those in society who commit criminal acts against their communities by wilfully and irresponsibly dumping their waste and spoiling the most valuable asset we have – our natural environment,” added Minister Breen. “A wide range of clean-up and …

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Dog fouling footage will not be used for prosecutions

By Peter O’Connell THE co-founder of the company which has put an audio warning system in place in Kilkee and Lahinch, advising people not to let their dogs foul the path, says that footage from the devices will not be used to prosecute people. Aidan McDermott of Riteview, a Kildare based company which offers environmental enforcement and monitoring solutions to organisations across Ireland, says that the system will in fact save Clare County Council money. “We do have some footage but the intent of the footage is not to carry out prosecutions. It’s not to identify people and say ‘we’ve got somebody, lets try and prosecute them.’ The saving for the local authority is on the clean up costs and the frequency of clean ups. The intent is that they may make some savings in that area,” he explained. “Our whole focus was to look at low cost solutions when we set up the company. The whole thrust was could …

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