Press Release

28 March 2019

New powers to tackle irresponsible dog ownership

Following a recent public consultation, a new Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) has been introduced in Fareham to encourage responsible dog ownership.

This decision was agreed at an Executive meeting on Monday 4 March and will allow the Council to:

• Continue to tackle Dog Fouling
• Request dogs be put on leads if causing a nuisance in public
• Ensure dogs are put on leads in sensitive places e.g. cemeteries
• Limit the numbers of dogs one person can walk at one time to four
• Exclude dogs from certain areas e.g. play areas

Executive Member for Health and Public Protection, Cllr Trevor Cartwright, said: “Feedback received from over a thousand Fareham residents and organisations showed that most respondents strongly agreed with the majority of our proposals. We hope the measures we are introducing as a result will help address the regular complaints that we receive about dog fouling and nuisance behaviour when dogs are not under proper control.”  

Respondents strongly objected to two of the planned proposals and the Council removed these from the PSPO as a result. They were to remove the extension to the dog exclusion zone on Hill Head beach and to ensure dogs should be kept on leads at Cliff Road Promenade. In addition to this the proposal to ensure that dog walkers have a means to pick up litter was removed due to concerns on how this would be enforced. 

The Council also created a more flexible and inclusive definition of those people exempt from the order to include a greater range of people who rely on assistance dogs. The PSPO does not apply to people who are:

• Registered blind or deaf.
• Have a physical or mental impairment which impacts on their normal day-to-day activities and rely on an assistance dog.
• Members of Assistance Dogs UK, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People or any other charity registered in the UK who rely on or are training assistance dogs.

The new order will come into force Monday 1 April and replaces a PSPO introduced in 2016 to tackle dog fouling and expires this month (March 2019).

Visit www.fareham.gov.uk/takingthelead to find out more about responsible dog ownership in Fareham.

ENDS

For further information contact:

Customer Enquiries

Tel: 01329 236100
Email: customerservicecentre@fareham.gov.uk

Media Enquiries

The Communications Team
Tel: 01329 824310
Email: publicity@fareham.gov.uk
Fax: 01329 550576

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