OVER the last two years, Scots have racked up more than £120,000 in unpaid dog poo debt, as new figures unearthed by The National suggest some pooch owners are letting their mutts defecate with impunity.
The statistics from Scotland’s 32 local authorities also suggest a huge discrepancy in how seriously councils take the issue of dog mess.
By some considerable distance Glasgow City Council has issued more Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) than any other local authority.
READ MORE: How many dog poo fines did your council issue?
Of the 3781 FPNs issued in Scotland last year, Glasgow issued 2547, around 67 per cent.
Scotland’s next biggest city, Edinburgh, issued just 65. Last year Stirling didn’t issue a single one.
The comparisons are not quite exact – three local authorities could only supply us with data from 2016, and while Dundee issued 59 FPNs, it was not clear on the total value of those fines or on how much had been paid.
But the figures as a whole suggest a reluctance to issue FPNs for dog fouling, and an unwillingness to then take the perpetrators to court.
Over the last two years, the total value of fines for dog walkers who left their animal’s poop unscooped in Scotland was £220,811.
Of that £98,591 has been paid – leaving £122,220 uncollected.
Unsurprisingly, given the amount of tickets handed out, Glaswegians are responsible for £90,000 of that unpaid dog poo debt. The total value of these fines was a whopping £143,320, and yet only £54,275 has been collected by the council – slightly more than a third.
The WarOnLitter Twitter account, run by a 46-year-old father of two who asked to remain anonymous, has been waging a long battle with Glasgow City Council over dog mess.
“Just think what £100,000 could pay for when councils are complaining about budget cuts from Holyrood.”
He added: “What is the point of fining if fines are not collected? That is just a waste of manpower and wages. Money down the drain. Not only are they not collecting fines, they are paying someone to issue the fines, so it costs them double.”
Orkney and Shetland councils have not issued any fines in the past two years, while Aberdeen issued just five in 2016.
Fines were initially £40 but the Scottish Parliament voted in June 2016 to increase them to £80.
According to the Scottish Household Survey in 2016, discarded canine faeces was the most common neighbourhood problem, with 31 per cent of Scots saying it was an issue.
When the rise in price was announced, the Scottish Government said they were considering how to “develop a more robust system to tackle the issue of collecting unpaid penalties.”
There are some exemptions allowing certain groups to let their pup poo on the streets.
Blind persons in charge of their guide dog and disabled people with physical impairments which affect their ability to lift or carry everyday objects when in charge of their assistance dog are both exempt.
In Barking & Dagenham, there were plans to register the DNA of all 18,000 dogs in the London borough.
They were the first council to introduce a local DNA testing scheme, also known as Pooprints.
Last year councillors said it had led to the amount of fouling decreasing by 60 per cent, though owners are expected to pay £30 to register their dog if they want to walk it in a park with a “public space protection order”.
A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council said: “Anyone who fails to pay after 28 days is referred to debt recovery.
“If repeat offenders live in social rented housing, their landlords are notified. If other antisocial behaviour is also being committed or the tenants are breaching their tenancy agreement in other ways, their tenancy could be at risk and they may ultimately face eviction.
“Repeat offenders in private accommodation are referred to Community Relations Officers to pursue under antisocial behaviour legislation.
A Stirling Council spokesman said they would be looking to extend their enforcement action over the coming months: “The council promote a preventative approach by ensuring an adequate provision of general waste bins, which can be used for dog waste, as well as specific dog waste bins at key locations throughout Stirling.
“This is an important issue for communities and we will be looking to introduce new campaigns and extend our enforcement action over the coming months to tackle this issue.”
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