Just one fine for dog fouling handed out in four years in Southend

7:30am Wednesday 6th February 2013 in Local News

Suzi Hawkins, who has campaigned against dog mess Suzi Hawkins, who has campaigned against dog mess

STREET wardens in Southend have handed out just one fine for dog fouling in the past four years - despite receiving an average of 100 complaints a year from fed-up residents.


Southend Council has one dedicated dog warden plus twelve other officers who are able to hand out fines, but only one dog owner has been collared for the offence since 2009 - in 2011/12.


Figures revealed to the Echo following a Freedom of Information request show that from 2009 to 2012, residents complained about the problem to the council 302 times.


Southend Council’s group manager for waste and environmental care, Steven Crowther said: “It is unfortunately very difficult to catch offenders in the act.


“Our dog wardens and environmental care officers, who deal with dog control issues among other matters, are out and about seven days a week, and they record and deal with any breaches of dog control.


“We have one dog warden, and a team of 12 Environmental Care Officers who deal with dog control issues.


Residents whose streets are blighted by dog mess have called on the council to get tougher.


Quiller Hawkins, 38, of Christchurch Road, Southchurch, said: ““I realise that trying to prosecute people is difficult I think that the problem is at a crisis point."
 

Comments(24)

tricklesthegreek says...
6:31pm Tue 5 Feb 13

Crisis point? Are we wading through piles of ++++ in Southchurch? No we are not.

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adolf jones says...
6:48pm Tue 5 Feb 13

its become virtually impossible to walk the streets of southchurch without treading in something nasty.
the owners of these dogs should be heavily fined and banned from keeping dogs for life.
something really does need to be done about it.

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tricklesthegreek says...
7:58pm Tue 5 Feb 13

Well I live in Southchurch (not a dog owner) and I have yet to see all these mounds of muck. Maybe it's only certain roads then, in which case it must be this person's neighbours. There are lots of dogs on our street and we don't have any problems.

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DogsMessInLeigh says...
10:03pm Tue 5 Feb 13

its also in Leigh, piles of steaming crap in the mornings..small dollops...big ones, some have already been stepped in and then spread around,its outside schools theres double figures on the towpath between leigh and chalkwell, chalkwell park, theres not many roads that escape, Parts of Elm road has a problem.
Theres just crap everywhere, and there shouldn't be.

Disgusting dogs sh*^ disgusting lazy ar$ed owners that leave it.
would like to see wardens giving out fines, but would mean working late into the evening and in the early morning hours to catch the stinking culprits.

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emcee says...
10:37pm Tue 5 Feb 13

tricklesthegreek wrote:
Crisis point? Are we wading through piles of ++++ in Southchurch? No we are not.
Do you use a dog or are you still using a white stick (appologies to the genuinely blind) because nearly every road I go down in Southchurch has dog mess somwhere or another and it is even worse if the street has a grass verge. Southchurch is rife with the stuff.
The dog warden and environmental care officers may be out seven days a week but they are certainly not earning they salaries in certain parts of the town.

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Nebs says...
10:53pm Tue 5 Feb 13

To be fair to the dog wardens, who would want to challenge a neanderthal with a pitbull and ask them to pick up their dogs mess.

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666chris says...
3:07am Wed 6 Feb 13

you worry about dogs mess in southchurch,I was born in southchurch and its not the dogs mess on the street that is the problem,its the sh$@ that the people leave behind,lets all blame the dogs,lets not worry about the puke,prostitutes,dru
gs and illegal immigrants.

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pembury53 says...
8:45am Wed 6 Feb 13

Nebs wrote:
To be fair to the dog wardens, who would want to challenge a neanderthal with a pitbull and ask them to pick up their dogs mess.
Exactly..... the council can rake in cash from parking offences etc, because it's easy, low risk and now practically anomynous. However to challenge some retard with a killing dog and try and issue a fine is a bit more difficult...... However the problem is out of control in some areas, certainly parts of westcliff, and needs urgent action ( at night i walk in the road where possible).... personally i would destroy the dogs and give the scum 'owner' the vets bill... the streets would very soon be ok to walk on again...

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notinwestcliffanymore says...
9:28am Wed 6 Feb 13

If parking wardens became street patrol officers and could fine for parking, littering, flytipping and dog fouling they would be welcomed, or give pcso s who don t seem to do much else the powers and get rid of the parking wardens.

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DogsMessInLeigh says...
10:02am Wed 6 Feb 13

I am sure if a PCSO saw it happening they would do something....but its the early morning and late night dog owners that are mostly to blame....when no warden or PCSO's are around.

i note in todays Echo there was a meeting at a shoebury school about this problem and Tony Cox attended, they are possibly going to send out a letter to parents about cleaning up after....but what about those that don't have kids attending schools who are also not scrapping up the stinking crap...? and will those responsible take any notice..? i know the answer....No they won't, until a major crack down on it with on the spot heavy fines it won't go away.

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reptile says...
10:39am Wed 6 Feb 13

I have heard a rumour, don't know if it's true, that Thorpe Bay dog owners drive their dogs to Southchurch to drop it.

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megamite says...
11:18am Wed 6 Feb 13

tricklesthegreek wrote:
Crisis point? Are we wading through piles of ++++ in Southchurch? No we are not.
I beg to differ, when i lived in Southchurch it was everywhere on the pavements around Southchurch park especially noticeable on the school run and playgroup run, someone even had the courtesy to leave a pile right outside the playgroup gate the poor playgroup workers had to clear it up!

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megamite says...
11:21am Wed 6 Feb 13

My argument is if a parent was seen letting their child dump on the pavement and walk off what would you do? walk away and accept that that is acceptable? No different for dog owners, cant be bothered to clean up after them should not be allowed to have one. It is not their right

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Nebs says...
11:28am Wed 6 Feb 13

All dogs to be microchipped pretty soon. That will make the wardens job easier.

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MilesBond says...
11:48am Wed 6 Feb 13

It's what happens with the sh*t once it's been bagged up that matters. Someone who walks their dog in Southchurch Park regularly lobs their black bags of crap in to the perimeter bushes and hedge; particulary where the park borders Northumberland Crescent. Don't ask how i found out :( Disgusting behaviour. I've also seen the same black bags left on top of peoples' garden walls.

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DogsMessInLeigh says...
12:43pm Wed 6 Feb 13

Nebs wrote:
All dogs to be microchipped pretty soon. That will make the wardens job easier.
So will there be some sort of tracking device in the shiit left behind..? and they can match it with the dog and then prosecute its slob of an owner.?

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2shedsjackson says...
12:46pm Wed 6 Feb 13

There are 8 MILLION dogs in this country. That's an awful lot of dog sh-it.

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teyeagle says...
1:24pm Wed 6 Feb 13

If its not dogs mess or litter its the cyclists. Not only do you have to look where you are treading you have to look sho's going to run into you. No wonder nobody walks nowadays

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Nebs says...
1:46pm Wed 6 Feb 13

DogsMessInLeigh wrote:
Nebs wrote:
All dogs to be microchipped pretty soon. That will make the wardens job easier.
So will there be some sort of tracking device in the shiit left behind..? and they can match it with the dog and then prosecute its slob of an owner.?
Perhaps the wardens, having identified the owner from the microchip, could box it up and post it back to them with their fine.

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Carnabackable says...
2:18pm Wed 6 Feb 13

Get rid of these so called wardens, give 'em a job, sifting the beach..

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megamite says...
2:47pm Wed 6 Feb 13

the stuff is toxic so in my opinion needs to be taken more seriously.

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megamite says...
2:48pm Wed 6 Feb 13

http://www.doodycall
s.com/resources_toxi
c_dog_waste.asp

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Nebs says...
2:23pm Thu 7 Feb 13

If there has only been one fine for dog fouling handed out in four years in Southend then surely that shows how responsible dog owners are.

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emcee says...
3:10pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Nebs wrote:
If there has only been one fine for dog fouling handed out in four years in Southend then surely that shows how responsible dog owners are.
The amount of dog mess I observe around town, in parks and open spaces, says otherwise. So, no, some dog owners are not being responsible. Only having issued one fine in the last four years merely shows that that the dog warden, or other officers, are never in the right place at the right time or are even turning a blind eye. However, having said that, an irresponsible dog owner is more likely to give the dog warden a one fingured salute, and walk off. It is, after all, extremely difficult to issue fines to unknowns.

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