City chiefs have been told they must get serious about cracking down on the dog fouling that blights parts of Dundee.
To many it has become second nature to pick up after their pets but the Labour Group’s environment spokesman, Richard McCready believes there is still a problem.
The council has been working to increase the number of people who can issue fixed penalty notices and increase awareness of the antisocial nature of fouling.
Mr McCready, however, believes the local authority must back its zero tolerance pledge with the knowledge enforcement action and fines will follow.
“It is good to see that the number of officers of the council who can now issue fixed penalty notices for dog fouling has increased to 23.
“However, my experience and the experience of my colleagues is that when we ask for action on dog fouling we are told that there are few officers available.
“It is good to have more people who can issue penalties, but if they are not actually combating this disgusting practice on our streets then it is a pointless exercise.”
The number of dog owners making use of dog waste collection facilities in Dundee has increased slowly but steadily over the last three years.
Mr McCready added: “The amount of waste collected rose from 217 tonnes in the year 2012-13 to 222 tonnes in 2013-14.”
He continued: “I have contacted officers in the environment department looking for more information about who is able to issue fixed penalty notices and how often each officer is issuing them.
“I am concerned that it is difficult to ensure that fixed penalty notices are paid and I will be looking for ways in which we can ensure that those who are irresponsible enough to allow their dogs to foul our streets know that there is a penalty which will have to be paid.
“Most dog owners in Dundee take their responsibilities seriously, it is important that those that don’t are aware that there will be zero tolerance of dog fouling in our city”’
To heighten public awareness and to clamp down on this problem, a number of dog fouling campaigns have been undertaken over the past 12 months.
The most recent campaign was run in July as part of Take Pride in Your City.
Dundee City Council said the campaigns had been successful and that they, combined with an increase in the number of people able to write fixed penalty notices, had resulted in an additional 58 fines being issued.
The council is currently looking at ways of further increasing the number of officers authorised to issue penalties and their ability to cover out of hours periods.