Four Wirral residents who were caught failing to clean up after dogs under their control left unpleasant deposits in public were found guilty at hearings at Wirral Magistrates Court earlier this week.
These are the first cases to go to court since Wirral Borough Council’s partnership with Kingdom to enforce dog fouling legislation began in May.
Kingdom is a private company that provides a number of services ranging from providing security personnel to environmental protection, and the latter includes the serving of fixed penalty notices to dog owners who don’t do the business with their pets’ business.
The four dog owners involved in these cases chose not to pay the fixed penalties. They were not in court either and were found guilty in their absence. As a result each now has to pay a total of £400, eight times the £50 they could have paid if they had opted to discharge their liability for the offence and paid up as instructed by the notice.
The offenders were Leo Jones of Poulton Road, Wallasey; Stephen Laidlaw of Oriel Road, Rock Ferry; William McGrotty of Grange Road West, Birkenhead; and John Scott of Birket Avenue, Leasowe. The £400 each must pay includes a fine of £220, a contribution towards Council costs of £150, and a £30 victim surcharge.
Councillor Bernie Mooney, Wirral Council Cabinet member for Environment, said: “Wirral Council is taking a zero tolerance approach and pursuing this matter through the court is an important development as it shows that when we pledged to use all of the powers we have at our disposal to address dog fouling, we meant business.”
Since the enforcement partnership with Kingdom began in May this year, 38 people have so far been issued with fixed penalty notices.
Dog owners of Heswall and surrounding areas – you have been warned.
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