Where’s the Civic Pride?

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 Friday, July 19, 2019 - 10:03 Leo Olivero

WANTED: More Responsible Dog Ownership and Stronger Enforcement

Dog fouling is a mess, (excuse the pun) which doesn’t go away. It’s also a daily irritating problem and a health one at that, especially this time of the year when the sun is blazing away more hours in a day compounding the problem left behind!

Dog fouling and litter are constant daily irritants. We at Panorama receive weekly complaints and have unsightly photos sent to prove the point. So I do feel obliged to write another report why disappointingly, it very much looks there is a growing number of dog owners who do not remove the business end of the mess after their pets has completed their part, which is normally deposited or a more common term dumped, on pavements, public highways and most residential estates.

The issue according to people who have contacted this newspaper is not with the animal, but those members of the public who allow dog excrement to litter the pavement!

We have also received complaints where people have either been attacked by an off leash dog, or have an issue or have a neighbour who refuses to do something about their dog barking all day and night.

One complaint is constant the total lack of enforcement!

Many believe that dogs fouling the streets have fallen off the radar in Gibraltar. Only to be replaced by dogs either fouling or urinating anywhere that irresponsible dog owners like. Is this the authorities’ answer to this problem, the non-enforcement or of any action it seems, regarding these pertinent laws?

There’s no doubt dog fouling is a major environmental issue, particularly in such a small and confined place like Gibraltar. Dog waste is not only an extremely unpleasant and unwelcome illegal act; it is also the perfect breeding ground for dangerous bacteria.

Dog fouling as such is not the real problem, as there is nowhere else to take the animal but onto the street. The problem is with dog owners or whoever walks the dog (if the dog is accompanied at all) for not cleaning or removing the mess.

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