The community wardens at Cheshire East Council have launched a new survey to gauge feelings about the Council's use of dog control orders.
The survey is available here on the Council's website and should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.
Jane Mathews, Team Leader Animal Health & Welfare at Cheshire East Council, said "We receive a number of complaints regarding dog fouling and people not controlling their dogs and the Community Warden Service has been carrying out a lot of work to promote more responsible dog ownership.
"As part of this the survey was launched to gauge people's feelings about the Council's use of Dog Control Orders."
Offences covered under the Dog Control Orders include: failing to remove dog faeces; not keeping a dog on a lead; permiting a dog to enter land from which dogs are excluded and taking more than a specified number of dogs onto land.
The aim of this survey is to gain initial views regarding dog control orders within parks and cemeteries in Cheshire East. If specific proposals are made for a park these will be consulted on at a later date.
The survey is available here on the Council's website and should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
I have challenged numerous people re not poop scooping and just got verbal abuse for my troubles. The warden will have to have witnessed an owner not picking up as otherwise they will say it was not their dog.
As much as I agree with the measures it won't change anything. Sadly there are to many owners who just don't care. Why would any sensible person allow their dog to be off a lead in a cemetery or park anyway. The answers for the survey are common sense IMO.
I foster dogs for a rehoming charity - large dogs as it happens - and they are always under control and I certainly always pick up after them. I wish I could say the same for the numerous small dogs I regularly run into who are allowed to run riot - but that doesn't seem to matter because "they are only tiny". I've only been bitten twice, twenty years apart, both unprovoked attacks by a small dog.
We need sensible, thought-out legislation relating to dogs not the current mish-mash of knee-jerk, random and largely unenforceable regulations. It is not rocket-science, it is about taking personal responsibility which needs to be promoted in more areas than just dog-ownership.
And I agree with Sarah, it is largely about common sense.
This has been done by a.n.other council in the North West.
Just an Announcement of the intention to set up such a scheme may be all that is needed ... but hey if not then why not just do it?
Please fill in the survey and ask why our council doesn't have 'dogs must be on leads in public parks' laws as Greater Manchester does (so The Carrs and Lindow Common are full of GM dog walkers with dogs off leads!).
And has any progress been made to trace the cowardly owner (he ran off, according to reports) of the dog that attacked the little girl in The Carrs recently? If not, why not.
It's all very well saying most dog owners are responsible, but when one has to run the gambit of off-lead uncontrolled dogs most times one cycles through the Carrs (I wouldn't even try walking on Lindow Common!) it seems that irresponsible ones are all too common!