Edinburgh has been named the worst place within the UK for canine fouling over the previous decade.
An evaluation of knowledge from councils throughout the nation put the Capital on the high of the canine mess desk with a complete of 23,803 canine fouling service requests, fines and studies. And Edinburgh additionally has the best variety of canine fouling service requests, fines and studies to this point in 2023 – with a median of round 142 monthly, up by almost 32 per cent from 10 years in the past, when the month-to-month common was round 107.
The figures, obtained by way of Freedom of Information requests by pet insurance coverage firm Everypaw, confirmed Manchester because the second worst place for canine fouling over the ten years 2013-22 and Sunderland third. Glasgow got here in fourth, Dundee fifth and Aberdeen ninth.
Everypaw mentioned it had despatched FoI requests to all 230 metropolis, district and borough councils within the UK. They had obtained 185 responses and used the info to map the 25 worst place within the UK.
A spokesperson for Everypaw Pet Insurance mentioned: “Taking care of a dog is a significant responsibility, and one of the most important duties any owner will have is taking them for daily walks. We hope by highlighting the worst dog fouling spots in the UK, more people are encouraged to pick up after their dogs and keep the environment clean while enjoying walks with their furry friends.”
A breakdown of the Edinburgh figures reveals a complete of 15,603 canine fouling requests to the council’s avenue cleaning part over the last decade, in addition to 6,025 to avenue enforcement, 132 studies despatched to the procurator fiscal and 366 mounted penalty notices issued.
Edinburgh’s whole determine of 23,803 was greater than double second-placed Manchester’s 11,765 and dwarfed Glasgow’s 9,722, Dundee’s 8,282 and Aberdeen’s 5,393.
Keep Britain Tidy has estimated there are greater than 8 million dogs within the UK producing greater than 1,000 tonnes of mess each day within the UK alone. Online searches for ‘how to report dog fouling’ have risen by 29 per cent during the last three months and there was a 50 per cent improve in searches for ‘reporting dog mess’ previously 12 months.
The Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 Act, handed by the Scottish Parliament, locations accountability to clear up any waste on ‘the person in charge of the dog’. Failure to take action can result in a wonderful of £80 by way of a hard and fast penalty discover, which will increase to £100 if the wonderful will not be paid inside 28 days.
Transport and atmosphere convener Scott Arthur mentioned accountable canine house owners could be ashamed and offended on the survey final result. He continued: “The council makes it easy for residents to report dog fouling problems online and based on those reports it does target resources to where the problem is worst. In the last budget we invested an additional £3 million in street cleanliness. I hope that that, combined with the co-operation of the public, means we can start to improve the city for everyone.”
