Poop snoopers are on your tail

IRRESPONSIBLE dog owners beware — Oldham Council is on a mission to make sure you clean up after your pet.

For the past six weeks, the Environmental Action Unit has run a targeted campaign — with funding from Chadderton and Royton, Shaw and Crompton District Partnerships — to rid the borough’s streets of dog muck.

Plain clothes patrols have been staged outside normal working hours with a zero tolerance policy on owners who fail to scoop up their pet’s mess.

Owners caught not picking up after their pets were issued with an £80 Fixed Penalty Notices or prosecution if not paid within a certain time.

A total of 39 notices were handed out during the crackdown, compared with five in the whole of the previous year.

The council teamed up with Keep Britain Tidy and Oldham Roughyeds for the campaign which uses the phrase “there’s no such thing as the dog poo fairy”. Roughyeds are doing their bit to raise awareness of the importance of scooping poop among their fans.

Two-year-old Amiee Langdon, who lost sight in one eye after falling in dog mess in a Fallowfield park earlier this year, is fronting the national campaign.

Councillor Rod Blyth, cabinet member for community safety and public protection, said: “This is difficult enforcement work but we are committed to tackling this problem and grateful to the district partnerships for the funding.

“This work can be very time-consuming and it is often difficult to catch offenders because they allow their dogs to do this at night, or when there are usually not many people around.

The council is also proposing to make important changes to Dog Control Orders.

A consultation exercise — which runs until September 27 – is asking local people what they think of a series of new proposals and how they will be applied.

Visit www.oldham.gov.uk/dog_con trol_order_consultation to see the proposals in full and have your say.