Dog fouling controls carrying fines of up to £1,000 extended for three years

Anthony Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

Dog owners who fail to clean up after their pets or breach other controls in public spaces could continue to face fines of up to £1,000 after restrictions were extended for another three years.

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has renewed two Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) covering dog controls across the county borough and at Aberdare Park until September 2029.

The restrictions include a ban on dog fouling in public places and require owners to carry bags or another suitable means of cleaning up after their pets.

Dogs are also banned from council-owned schools, playgrounds and marked sports pitches, while they must be kept on leads in council cemeteries and at Aberdare Park.

Owners can also be ordered by authorised council officers to put their dog on a lead in other public places where it is considered necessary.

Anyone who breaches an order without a reasonable excuse can be prosecuted and fined up to £1,000, although a £100 fixed penalty notice can be issued instead.

The council has issued more than 1,300 fixed penalties for breaches of the orders since they were first introduced in October 2017.

Its community wardens issued 129 penalties in 2023, followed by 105 in 2024 and 108 last year for offences including dog fouling and taking dogs into restricted areas.

The orders had been due to expire on September 30 but were extended for a further three years following approval by the council’s cabinet on Monday.

Figures from the most recent Keep Wales Tidy survey showed dog fouling was present on 10.9% of streets surveyed in RCT in 2022-23.

That compares with around 18% before the original protection order was introduced in 2017.

The council said a more recent comparison was unavailable because the Welsh Government did not fund Keep Wales Tidy to repeat the survey in 2024-25.

Reduction

A report considered by cabinet said dog fouling remained a problem despite the reduction recorded since the controls were introduced.

It said: “Dog fouling remains a significant concern for the council and for those who live, work, and visit the county borough and is a serious risk to human health, particularly amongst children.

“The public spaces protection orders in relation to dog controls has allowed the council to introduce a range of reasonable and proportionate restrictions on the use of publicly-accessible land across the county borough and helped control the harmful activities of irresponsible dog owners whilst allowing responsible dog owners to continue to exercise their dogs without undue restrictions.

“Despite the introduction of the orders in October 2017, and their renewal in October 2020 and 2023, there remains a minority of dog owners who do not clean up after their dogs or keep them under control.

“Therefore officers consider it vital the orders, which would ordinarily expire on September 30, 2026, are renewed for a further period of three years in order to maintain the significant benefits the orders have had in relation to dog fouling and ensure appropriate powers remain in place to deal with the minority who continue to flout the laws.”

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