Councils failing us over dog dirt enforcement

DOG owners who allow their pets to leave their poo in public places rightly deserve the threat of prosecution - but the threat’s about as far as it goes, judging by the lack of action from local councils.

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The UK has an estimated 8 million dogs, producing more than 1,000 tonnes of poo every day, according to experts in these things. Imagine that on your CV: canine faeces statistician.

As well as smelling dreadful, dog poo can cause blindness if it gets in the eyes and can be harmful to dogs if ingested, which is why pet insurance comparison website quotezone.co.uk took an interest. It asked almost 300 local authorities in England how many complaints they received about dog dirt and what they did about them.