Dog DNA database could be introduced by Daventry District Council to tackle irresponsible dog owners

A dog DNA database and a restriction on the number of dogs being walked at any one time are among proposals Daventry District Council wants your views on.
Volunteers pictured at the council's Paint Means Poo initiative launch last yearVolunteers pictured at the council's Paint Means Poo initiative launch last year
Volunteers pictured at the council's Paint Means Poo initiative launch last year

The authority is running a public consultation to help decide what additional powers it can give to its enforcement officers to help tackle irresponsible dog owners.

Daventry District’s Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) is seeking views on the existing laws as well as on the potential for expanding the order with a series of new ones.

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Councillor Richard Auger, environmental health and housing portfolio holder on Daventry District Council, said: “There was strong public support for the current PSPO when it was introduced in December 2015 and we believe it has been successful, both in developing a culture of picking up after our pets, and in encouraging people to control their dogs.

“Three years on, we would like to know what people think of these measures, but we are also keen to hear views on a range of other proposals that you may feel enhances the council’s ability to deal with the small number of irresponsible people who fail to keep their dogs under reasonable control.

“I would encourage people to lets us know how we can best tackle this issue by sharing their views.”

The proposals include:Requiring dogs to be kept on leads in certain areas including graveyards, memorial gardens, near schools and in built-up areasMaking it an offence to allow dogs to enter marked and maintained sports pitchesMaking it an offence to have a lead that is less than two metres in length in an area where there is a requirement to have a dog on a leadRestricting the number of dogs that can be walked at any one timeIntroducing a DNA scheme that would require anyone who wants to let their dog off a lead in certain hotspot areas to first have their dog registered on a DNA database.

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Daventry District Council is proposing to keep existing laws in place under the current PSPO, first introduced in December 2015.

Those laws make it an offence for a person to: fail to pick up after their dog, fail to exclude the dog from a defined children’s play area, fail to put their dog on a lead when requested by an authorised officer, fail to keep their dog on a lead around the café area at Daventry Country Park, and fail to have the means to pick up after their dog.

The current PSPO expires on December 31, 2018.

The consultation is also asking Parish Councils and community organisations if they would be interested in being given enforcement powers to deal with dog fouling and other environmental crimes.

Outside of the dog control orders, the consultation also asks people for their views on the banning of smoking within fenced-off play areas.

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People have until midnight on Tuesday, July 24 to have their say at www.daventrydc.gov.uk/consultation.

Alternatively, paper copies of the questionnaire can be requested by phoning Daventry District Council on 01327 871100.

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